Former Wolves owner Steve Morgan and ex-Derby chairman Andy Appleby are considering a joint bid to buy the Rams out of administration and save them from liquidation.
Mike Ashley remains the favourite to get his hands on the stricken League One club. But Morgan and Appleby are understood to be exploring the possibility of working together to try to beat the former Newcastle owner to a deal with administrators Quantuma. Morgan and Appleby have been put together by ex-Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey. He has been involved in American Appleby’s bid to buy Derby and knows Morgan well from their days working together at Molineux.
A joint bid will give the two businessmen more leverage against Ashley, although the billionaire Sports Direct boss still has the financial clout to outbid them if he wishes to. If Ashley does get his hands on Derby, then Lee Charnley, the managing director of Newcastle during his ownership, will be handed a similar role at the East Midlands club. The situation remains fraught and highly complex, though, with the EFL desperate for a resolution to the whole tawdry mess.
