Swansea City fans will meet on Wednesday to discuss the Supporters’ Trust’s ongoing talks with the club over their potential sale of shares.
The meeting of Supporters Trust members comes following publication of a carefully managed interview by the club’s American owners in which they claimed they wanted to meet Trust officials – “without lawyers” – to discuss buying half of the Trust’s 21 per cent share.
Those purchase plans – which could raise funds – have been put on hold for the past seven months since initial talks stalled.
Selling half their share would earn the Trust around £11m, with one option for the Trust to then make a loan back to the club in order to raise funds.
Owners Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan gave a downbeat assessment of the club’s future in an interview with selected media on Monday.
They suggested getting back to the Premier League was a target that could take years to achieve, that further selling of the current squad was likely and that no guarantee could be made that any more new players would be added in the next January transfer window.
Levien and Kaplan – who bought their controlling stake in the club two years ago with a promise to maximise global revenues to underpin further growth – claimed they only managed to raise £30m from player sales this summer.
In that period the Swans sold Alfie Mawson, Federico Fernandez, Jordi Amat, Kyle Bartley, Sam Clucas and goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.
Levien said: “We looked at players who were later on in years and whether there was a chance to maximise their value. It was a difficult summer in that respect, but if you look at the players we lost and the players we gained, we feel we are moving in a very positive direction and there is a lot to be positive about.
“There is certainly a lot of work to do and there is more investment to be made, but the reality is there were players we bought along the way over the last two years that we are still paying transfer fees for and those are the realities of moving from the Premier League to the Championship.
“Steve and I are committed to building a sustainable squad, we are trying to learn from our mistakes and add players of value who can grow into their rules.”
As for further talks with the Supporters Trust, the owners suggested they could happen as a result of mediation.
Kaplan said: “There has been a request for mediation. I hope that the Trust, the selling shareholders and ourselves can sit in a room without lawyers and figure out how to do something in the best interests in the club. That is all I can say on that.”
