Dave King breaks silence over Rangers takeover bid as he makes legacy vow and reveals his pivotal 49ers role

Dave King has confirmed his crucial role in the San Francisco 49ers ongoing bid to takeover Rangers, with the former club chairman hoping that the mega deal will be his ''lasting legacy' at Ibrox.

The South African businessman stepped down as Rangers chairman in May 2020 after five years in the role, but still owns a 12.6 per cent share in the club through his New Oasis Asset Company. As we reported on Thursday, King is now willing to sell up those shares as part of the 49ers Enterprises consortium led by Leeds United chairman Paraag Marathe to take over the running of the club.

King has previously revealed that he had offered to return to his role as chairman at Rangers in order to help oversee a restructure of the club but was knocked back, with John Gilligan currently in office until a permanent appointment is found. But the 69-year-old has now gone into detail about his active role in bringing the 49ers to the table.

Speaking to Sun Sport, he said: "At this time, no deal has been concluded with any investor. In order to avoid the continuation of unnecessary speculation that might transpire to be harmful to the club, I introduce the following general facts.

"I am on record as stating that I offered to return as chairman for a limited two-year period to restore the proper operational structures at the club and to find a new and substantial anchor investor that could take the club forward with stability rather than the present ‘cap in hand’ approach to funding. The board rejected my offer of assistance, as it was entitled to do.

"I also stated that I believe that the present investors have ‘investment fatigue’ and that any new investor should be of unquestionable wealth to not only inject much-needed funds into the club