Ex-Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino eyeing Charlton Athletic takeover — Football League World 11/4/24

TOBY WILDING

Could Massimo Cellino soon be back in English football?

Massimo Cellino is interested in a deal to potentially buy League One side Charlton Athletic.

That's according to a report from Italian outlet Brescia In Gol, who say that the 67-year-old is interested in another foray into English football.

Cellino currently owns Brescia, who are seventh in the Italian second-tier standings. However, he is of course no stranger to the English game, following his time as owner of Leeds United between January 2014 and May 2017.

Now it seems as though he is keen to make the move back into the Football League, and has already identified his next target.

According to this latest update, Cellino has received an offer from an unnamed American company to buy Brescia.

It is claimed the bid is worth €18-20million. That is below Cellino's valuation of the Italian second-tier side, which is apparently around €25million.

Even so, negotiations over a potential sale of Brescia, are expected to continue next week, and could impact a potential move for Charlton.

The report states that Cellino would not want to sell Brescia, without having another club lined up to purchase.

The 67-year-old is also said to be keen to experience English football for a second time, following his stint at Elland Road.

As a result, he is apparently showing an interest in buying Charlton. The Addicks are currently owned by the company SE7Partners, whose members include the former Sunderland director Charlie Methven.

The company only purchased the League One club from Danish businessman Thomas Sandgaard last summer.

It has been a challenging campaign for Charlton on the pitch, with both Dean Holden and Michael Appleton sacked from managerial roles by the Addicks amid a threat of relegation this season.

However, the Addicks have started to find their feet again, following the appointment of Nathan Jones back in February.

They are currently on a 12-game unbeaten run, which has seen them climb to 15th in the League One table, 11 points clear of the relegation with just a handful of games still to be played before the end of the campaign.

Charlton are next in action on Saturday afternoon, when they travel to The Abbey Stadium to take on Cambridge United.

You get the feeling that a takeover by Massimo Cellino is something that most of a Charlton persuasion would likely want to avoid.

The club have had a considerable turnover of both managers and owners over the course of the past few years.

That distraction and uncertainty does not seem to have helped, while they have found themselves languishing in League One.

It therefore looks as though they do need some stability and consistency, and on the pitch at least, Jones ought to be able to provide that.

Indeed, his pedigree at a higher level means many will be confident he can eventually start to take the club forward.

However, considering how turbulent his time in charge of Leeds was, with a raft of managerial changes and off-field controversies, there would surely be concerns that a takeover from Cellino could derail that.

After what the club has been through in recent years, that is something they will surely want to avoid, while SE7 themselves may not want to walk away from The Valley so soon after their takeover.

With that in mind, this does feel like one link that is unlikely to be welcomed all that much by anyone connected with Charlton Athletic.