STEWART DONALD has been given the keys to Sunderland despite paying ex-owner Ellis Short only an EIGHTH of the agreed sale price.
The insurance tycoon, 43, completed his takeover of the League One club on Monday in a £40million deal.
But SunSport understands Donald has so far only handed over £5m to Short, leading to questions about his overall wealth.
Donald has two years to pay the full £40m, which Short has secured against the Premier League parachute payments the Black Cats are due – around £45m over the next two years.
But the former owner of non-league Eastleigh will also have to shell out at least £25m to other clubs for past player transfers.
And Donald will have to foot the bill for Sunderland’s astronomical running costs, which were as high as £500,000-a-week before he took charge, with Jack Rodwell and Lee Cattermole both contracted to earn more than £40,000-a-week in League One next season.
Speaking on Monday, Charlie Methven, who is a director under Donald and has a six per cent stake in the club, said: “The way in which Ellis has allowed us to do it is to pay some of the £40m in stages, to help us with the cash flow requirement this summer.
“The reality when you do this kind of deal, and there is still money outstanding on the deal, is that the person who has that money outstanding will want to take security against something so that if the owners then didn’t pay, he would have something to cover his money.
“That money is secured against parachute payments but that is just him making sure he gets the full value of the £40m from us.”
Donald only had to prove he had £50m in cash to pass the EFL’s checks on prospective owners.
But SunSport has discovered he only gained approval after his initial business plan was rewritten with the help of the outgoing Sunderland board.
At his first press conference on Monday, Donald said: “I know I’m supposedly worth £8m but somehow I’ve managed to find £50m in my piggybank and the EFL have seen that, so no problem.”
JACK THE LAD Sunderland close to appointing Jack Ross as new boss
Donald is travelling to the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend to speak to Uruguayan businessman Juan Sartori about a potential investment.
Yet he has already started making a raft of redundancies as part of a major cost-cutting operation.
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Chief executive Martin Bain and recruitment officer Neale McDermott are two of the most senior employees to be sacked so far, while academy chief Jimmy Sinclair has quit.
Donald was yesterday locked in talks with St Mirren boss Jack Ross about the vacant Sunderland manager’s role.
He had hoped to confirm the appointment last night, but despite talks said to be “progressing well”, the Scot’s contract has not yet been finalised.
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