The potential new owner of Derby County has broken his silence after being named the preferred bidder for the Championship club.
Chris Kirchner, an American businessman, has revisited his interest in the East Midlands side months after withdrawing his offer to buy them just before Christmas. He then turned his attention to another second-tier outfit, Preston North End, but after talks with the Lancashire club broke down he has since returned to his interest in the Rams.
But just hours after news filtered through that he would be named as the preferred bidder by Derby's administrators Quantuma, a historical sexist tweet posted on Kirchner's Twitter account went viral on social media. The post, from 2013, said: "Men categorize (sic) women in one of four ways… #factsonly " and included terms that are abusive and misogynistic.
Kirchner later deleted his Twitter account with Sky Sports News reporting that Kirchner "regrets the original message". It is claimed it was an "ill-advised" attempt to quote a song lyric.
A spokesperson for Kirchner also previously told BBC Radio Derby: "The tweets took place nearly 10 years ago... he was quoting song lyrics and movie quotes. It is not his personal opinion. He recognises that the tweets are not suitable content, which is why they have been deleted."
The Mirror has attempted to contact Kirchner through his logistics technology provider company Slync.io. He has since created a new Twitter account with his first post containing just a Ram emoji.
On Thursday he broke his silence regarding a potential takeover, speaking to our colleagues at DerbyshireLive. Kirchner told them he was looking forward to getting a deal over the line for the stricken club, who are aiming to avoid relegation to the third tier of English football for the first time since 1986.
"Excited, lot of work to do," Kirchner said, in response to being asked how he felt about being named as the preferred bidder. "But Garry [former Manchester City chief executive Garry Cook] and my team are already after it and we think we can get all the pieces finished to complete the acquisition of this great club."
A statement from Quantuma, confirming Kirchner as the preferred bidder, said: “Following a rigorous and well-documented marketing process, the joint administrators of Derby County Football Club have accepted an offer from Chris Kirchner to acquire Derby County Football club out of administration.
“This follows receipt of his recent bid for the club. The bid is for the purchase of the football club only with the terms of the club’s ongoing occupation of Pride Park Stadium to be negotiated with external stakeholders. Mr Kirchner had initially expressed an interest in acquiring the club in late 2021, and the joint administrators have welcomed Mr Kirchner’s renewed interest.
"Discussions have taken place with key stakeholders, and Mr Kirchner has been named as the preferred bidder for the Club, with immediate effect. The joint administrators have entered into a period of exclusivity with Mr Kirchner and his advisers, during which further operational, commercial and contractual discussions will take place."
County boss Wayne Rooney, who has previously spoken with Kirchner after he watched the club in person late last year, said he is "delighted” by the development. He said: “He’s an ambitious man who wants to do well for the club, so am I."
