Crystal Palace Chairman Dismisses £200m Tony Adams-Led Consortium Takeover Claims

Steve Parish has rubbished claims that Crystal Palace are on the verge of being taken over by a consortium helmed by Arsenal legend Tony Adams.

The Eagles chairman took to his personal Twitter account to blast reports that a £200m takeover was imminent.

Various media reports on Tuesday claimed that Palace were the subject of an offer from a consortium led by Adams - one which also includes ex-IMG chief Paul Smith - to take up the day-to-day running of the Premier League club.

Parish, though, refuted those suggestions and will hope that any further speculation is quickly quashed as Palace ready themselves for their 2017/18 opener against newcomers Huddersfield Town on Saturday.

Adams and Smith are believed to have secured financial backing from overseas investors to make a concrete bid to take over from Parish and current Palace shareholders Josh Harris and David Blitzer.

The American duo took out 18% stakes in the club in December 2015 to the tune of £50m - a decision which saw Parish reduce his own shareholding to around the same figure.

Palace's other co-owners, including Steve Browett, Martin Long and Jeremy Hosking, limited their shares too and it remains to be seen just who of the six - if any - are happy to sell up to Adams et al. to help move Palace forward.

Adams was believed to have been part of other consortiums who tried to buy Championship clubs Aston Villa and Sunderland at various points in 2017, but both ventures eventually fell apart for a number of reasons.

The former Gunners captain was manager of La Liga side Granada for a brief spell last season, but endured a horrendous two-month reign at the relegated club before he was sacked after just seven games in charge.

Parish took charge of Palace in 2010 when he led a consortium, CPFC 2010, to save the club from administration, and took great delight in seeing the Eagles promoted back to the Premier League in May 2013.