Potential Birmingham City buyer Paul Richardson has insisted that he and Maxi Lopez are still on course to take control of the club, speaking to journalist Tom Ross last week.

The duo stepped in following Laurence Bassini's failure to conclude a deal for the West Midlands side - and the signs were previously good for the duo with the potential investors previously looking set to make a hefty down payment at the start of this month.

This is one step in their quest to complete a £36.5m takeover of the club, with Richardson and Lopez initially planning to buy Vong Pech's 21.64% stake in the club before completing a full takeover over a two-year period.

They have also agreed to fork out a further £10m to the club's current owners if they win promotion to the Premier League before the summer of 2026 - and will be hoping John Eustace can lead them there after agreeing to keep him at the helm following talks with him and sporting director Craig Gardner.

Richardson also wants to bring former Charlton key figure Matt Southall to St Andrew's to be a key decision-maker at the club, with the Midlands outfit wanting to lower their wage bill, something that will give them the best chance of remaining within financial limits and will also enable them to spend more in the future.

However, reporter Neil Moxley provided a concerning update on the state of play regarding this takeover deal last week, saying neither businessman Richardson nor former footballer Lopez had access to sufficient funds to be able to take control of the second-tier outfit at this stage.

With this need for additional finance, they reportedly missed a deadline and this is why this agreement is yet to be tied up, though Richardson currently has no concerns.

According to Ross, he said that everything was still on track despite this concerning update and that they were waiting on the EFL, also telling the reporter that he would be at their tie against Huddersfield Town last Friday evening.

Another worrying report emerged on Friday, when the Daily Mail claimed that additional funding was needed to make the takeover a reality and the EFL were taking a closer look at the source of the potential new owners' funding.

There are concerns that Richardson and Lopez are being backed by Russian money - and according to the same outlet - a takeover may be blocked if a link with Russia is found following this investigation.

The country's war in Ukraine is ongoing at this stage, with several key Russian figures including former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich being sanctioned in the UK since Vladimir Putin's decision to invade their neighbouring nation.