The waiting game looks to be almost over for Nottingham Forest and their supporters after the announcement that the estate of Nigel Doughty have granted a period of exclusivity to the Al-Hasawi family in which the Kuwaitis can conduct due diligence before any potential takeover of the club.
Forest’s announcement came on the same day that Leeds United granted a similar period of exclusivity to Middle East investors and Watford were taken over by the Pozzo family, owners of Serie A side Udinese.
For all of the success that the Football League has had in marketing itself as the affordable, local and family-friendly alternative to the Premier League it is clear that the ever-increasing riches on offer in the top-flight have got investors looking outside the 20 clubs at the top to find others who may make it there in the near future.
Forest and Leeds, with their history, tradition and fanbase, fall into that category as the Championship more and more becomes an unofficial Premier 2 division, well-stocked with former top-flight teams.
On the other side of the divide the likes of Doncaster and Barnsley have found it increasingly hard to compete, Rovers attempting last season to bridge the gap by handing over responsibility for transfers to an agent.
Watford become the third club in the Pozzo stable with the Italians having achieved success at Spain’s Granada with the help of a host of on-loan players owned by Udinese and it may be that that model is used again at Vicarage Road as a means of competing with the bigger clubs in the division.