Derby County: Chris Kirchner set to officially take over as owner after exchanging contracts

Chris Kirchner is set to become the new owner of Derby County after exchanging contracts for the sale of the club with administrators.

The American is funding the running of Derby, which is significant for the short-term development of the club.

The purchase of Derby remains subject to the agreement between former owner Mel Morris and Pride Park. If there is no agreement over the stadium, he can still withdraw his plans to buy the club.

The sale is expected to be completed by May 31, according to the statement. The previous two deadlines have been missed.

The joint administrators have exchanged contracts for the sale of the business and assets of the club with the preferred bidder, a spokesman for Quantuma said.

In addition, the joint administrators can confirm that in the interim period between exchange and completion, funding for the club is being provided by Mr Kirchner, in a demonstration of his ongoing commitment to securing its long-term future.

The sale of the stadium is a condition of the exchanging of contracts.

The time between exchange and completion will allow the administrators and stakeholders to work together to complete the transaction.

The administrators would like to express their thanks to all of the stakeholders for their co-operation and work towards achieving a successful completion.

Mr Kirchner said he did not anticipate any issues in seeing the sale through as he called it.

I have been beyond fortunate and I will never forget how lucky I am. I have had the chance to see many of my dreams come true. I will never forget this day.

I will be the next owner of Derby County Football Club after we exchanged contracts with Quantuma. The contracts are contingent on the sale of the stadium. I don't think there will be any issues in the next few days.

Mr Kirchner said he will start funding the club next week.

The membership agreement with the EFL is agreed to, we have filed with the FA to recognise the transfer and my team is now moving forward with the rebuilding of the club.

This has been a traumatic period for everyone and I hope this is the most difficult transaction I have to complete for a long time.

Thank you so much for the kind words and support through this process. Tomorrow is the first day of a new journey together and I cannot be more excited to be a Ram.