---
title: "Sunderland: Stewart Donald insists that the door is open for prospective takeover bids"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/sunderland-stewart-donald-takeover-claim-sammy-yu-mark-campbell/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Ben Crump"
section: "League One News"
published: "2020-07-18T07:20:44Z"
modified: "2020-07-18T07:20:44Z"
---

# Sunderland: Stewart Donald insists that the door is open for prospective takeover bids

**Current Sunderland owner Stewart Donald has [left the door open](https://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport/football/sunderland-afc/stewart-donald-leaves-door-open-mark-campbell-takeover-sunderland-afc-and-reacts-sammy-yu-and-micky-gray-claims-2916076) for Sammy Yu and Mark Campbell to make takeover bids.**

Back in April 2018, Donald arrived as the club’s new ownerafter [taking over from Ellis Short](https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/stewart-donald-who-sunderland-owner-sale-eastleigh-chairman/) but, just [19 months](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/amp/football/50955375) into the businessman’s tenure, he made public his desire to sell the club.

With Sunderland missing out on the chance of promotion from League One for a second successive season, there have been [calls from some fans](https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/53446645) for Donald to sell up.

[Sammy Yu](https://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport/football/sunderland-afc/sammy-yu-confirms-takeover-interest-why-hes-unlikely-take-charge-sunderland-2911778) and [Mark Campbell](https://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport/football/sunderland-afc/mark-campbell-monitoring-sunderland-situation-no-takeover-deal-close-2913537) have both been credited with takeover interest over the last few weeks, although the former [claimed that Donald had failed to acknowledge attempts to contact him](https://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport/football/sunderland-afc/sammy-yu-confirms-takeover-interest-why-hes-unlikely-take-charge-sunderland-2911778) regarding the matter.

![](https://cdn.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/THE-BREAKDOWN.png)

Speaking to [BBC Radio Newcastle](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003yjnc) as quoted by [Sunderland Echo](https://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport/football/sunderland-afc/stewart-donald-leaves-door-open-mark-campbell-takeover-sunderland-afc-and-reacts-sammy-yu-and-micky-gray-claims-2916076), Donald spoke about a potential bid arriving and revealed how talks went with Campbell.

*“The fans have asked me to leave, and whether it’s Mark Campbell or somebody else,”* he said.

*“If somebody passes the EFL \[tests\], has the funds and has the vision… I’m not quite sure what the fans want me to do.”*

Donald was speaking after he met with fans on Thursday to discuss the sale of the club and other pressing matters.

![](https://cdn.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Verdict.png)

It seems that, if either Yu or Campbell have the necessary funds, then Donald will welcome a bid – so why has it taken this long?

Something does not seem right at the moment and it appears that the current Black Cats owner is holding out for a bid that will guarantee getting his money back on his initial investment.

Donald says that he does not know what fans want, but it [seems quite clear they want a new owner](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jan/07/sunderland-fans-ire-owner-stewart-donald-sell-club) to come in and for things to change as quickly as possible.

***Who do you think has a better chance of taking over Sunderland? Let us know in the comments section below…***