Would Kyril Louis-Dreyfus welcome investment in Sunderland?

Phil Smith and BBC Radio Newcastle's Nick Barnes discuss as part of the On The Whistle live show from The Bridge Hotel Vaults, Sunderland

Transcript

00:00We got a question here from Steve and I had a question from up there as well saying,

00:04are the rumours that KLD is looking to sell the club true?

00:08And I had a question up there asking if we think Kirill is in it for the long term

00:12or whether he would like to sell.

00:14Now, Kirill's a very, very secretive person,

00:17so nobody could give you a definitive answer on this.

00:19My reading would be that I don't think Kirill would have any interest in selling in full at this point

00:25because I don't think the potential value of the club at this point

00:29is anywhere near being realised.

00:32But I think if there was investor or investors who were interested in taking the chunk of the club

00:38for some money, I think you very much welcome that.

00:41What do you think?

00:43I think I would probably agree with you.

00:46I think over the last couple of years, I mean, I think Kirill said he's not looking to sell,

00:54but at the same time if the right offer came in, he would be open to offers.

00:59But my understanding of it was that he probably, at that time, overvalued the club.

01:07But I think it's probably true of any owner, if the right offer comes in, they'll sell.

01:14But I think every decision, to his credit as well, I would say,

01:17obviously there have been some spectacular mistakes along the way,

01:20but every decision he has made has been about building the value of the club.

01:25And I don't think we're anywhere near the point where that's being fully realised.

01:29Well, it's changed. It's changed now.

01:30The landscape's changed when being in the Premier League.

01:33So, I mean, the talk is if you're a championship club, that's the time to sell a football club.

01:38Because potentially you can buy a football club, in inverted commas, relatively cheaply.

01:45And if you get it right, you can make a lot of money if you get promotion to the Premier League.

01:52Sunderland are now in the position where they're in the Premier League,

01:55so their value is exponentially changed because the financial implications of being in the Premier League is changed.

02:02So, whether that has changed, whether that changes...

02:05Because the other interesting aspect of the whole ownership issue over Sunderland is...