Leeds Fans United chief executive Dylan Thwaites is confident that the supporter group stands in a position to purchase Massimo Cellino's majority shareholding in Leeds United, but insists they will not pay over the odds.
Cellino has agreed to sell his shareholding at cost, only recouping the amount of money he has put into the club, which Leeds Fans United feel is £30m, having reviewed the club's latest published accounts.
However, while Thwaites is confident that the group have the financial backing to be able to afford such a figure, he does concede due diligence could change matters.
And if Leeds Fans United found that the club had debts or legal commitments it was not aware of, even paying Cellino's at cost price could be bad value, which would mean they would walk away from the deal.
Thwaites said on BBC Radio Leeds: "Just because Massimo is selling at cost doesn't mean that that is a value that's worth paying.
relatedNewsStory
"So that's why we refer to this as the maximum value. The at cost is the maximum we'd have to pay.
"If we're relegated, if some of the legals or debts are different than we think, we might not think that at cost is good value, in which case we'd walk away from that deal.
"We're not going to spend shareholders' money at overvalue, That's not the way to operate", Thwaites concluded.
Leeds Fans United have a meeting with Cellino's lawyers set for tomorrow to confirm that the Italian still intends to sell his shareholding to them.
The supporter group want Cellino to sign an exclusivity agreement, after which they can then start due diligence with, if everything runs smoothly, a deal done in around three months.
