Ashley confirms interest in buying Derby County as he contacts club’s administrators Quantuma

Mike Ashley has contacted Derby County’s administrators to confirm that he is still interested in becoming the club’s new owner.

Chris Kirchner was unable to meet Friday’s 5pm deadline to prove that he is in a position to become Derby’s new owner.

Ex-Newcastle United owner Ashley written to the club’s administrators Quantuma, via his lawyers, saying he “remains willing and ready to transact”.

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Kirchner’s failure to prove he had the funds in place to complete the takeover prompted Quantuma to announce on Thursday that they were “continuing discussions with other interested parties”.

Ashley first showed interest in buying Derby in October after he had sold Newcastle, but he made clear in his letter to Quantuma that he did not want “to be treated as a contingency measure and would require some form of security” before resuming possible takeover talks.

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Quantuma said on Friday that Kirchner had still not given up on completing his deal.

The administrators said in a statement: “Further to our update (on Thursday) evening, and despite the best efforts of the parties, Mr Kirchner has, as of yet, not provided us with satisfactory evidence that he is in a position to complete the acquisition of the club – albeit he continues to work on