Football finance expert Kieran Maguire said that he had been told Clem Morfuni was demanding £12 million in order to sell Swindon Town.
Having taken over in 2021, Swindon have had three consecutive seasons in which they have finished in a lower league position than the previous under Morfuni.
This has been compounded by off-field issues, which included receiving two charges by the EFL last season and consistent late payments to emergency services.
Many fans have become fed up with this pattern, with the average attendance across this season being 6,933 compared with 9,449 in 2021/22 and a fan action group, The Spirit of ’69, launching to request that Morfuni publicly lists the club for sale.
Co-founder of The Spirit of ’69, Dan Hunt, was a guest on Maguire’s “Price of Football” podcast this week and the University of Liverpool lecturer discussed whether a sale was possible.
He said: “Yes they are a viable club [to be bought] because I think that a new owner would spark a greater interest. There has been a lack of professionalism at the club.
“In terms of the price, I have had conversations with people who have asked me close questions about Swindon Town and the constant thing that comes through is that Clem Morfuni has lost money as owner of the club and he wants to recoup that and he is going to try and recoup that with the price that he is asking for.
“I have heard that that price is £12 million.
“On the basis of the numbers that I am seeing, the club is not worth that and trying to get him to see sense might be tough.
“It could be that he has funded his investment in the club externally and so he has external debt which he has to deal with himself, we don’t know the intricacies of that.
“Therefore he is caught between two issues here, A) Does he want to get rid of the club? Yes. B) Can he afford to get rid of the club at an appropriate price? I think he has got to take a hit. There is a cause for concern.”
Morfuni has said on numerous occasions that he is willing to sell the club for the right price.
Most recently telling The Adver in November: “If the opportunity is there and I believe that they will do a better job of running this club then I will sit down with them and talk to them.”
