Sunderland may struggle to capitalise on the wealth of their prospective owners due to EFL finance restrictions.

That's the view of former defender Curtis Davies who has been discussing the proposed deal for Stewart Donald to sell his stake in the club.

A report from The Guardian revealed that a consortium led by minority shareholder Juan Sartori and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus - the 22-year-old son of former Marseille owner Robert Louis-Dreyfus - are set to purchase a majority stake in the club.

While the influx of cash-rich owners seems like a blessing on the surface, Davies believes that this is of little use when the Black Cats will be forced to adhere to League One's wage cap.

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Speaking on The Official EFL Podcast, Davies said: "I think the thing that will be difficult for Sunderland is the fact that there’s a wage cap, if I’m being totally honest, because for whatever money this new owner can bring into the football club, because there’s a wage cap in League One, he’s not going to be able to get the better, better players to be able to step over the other teams and make themselves almost guaranteed to go up.

“Because Sunderland get 40,000 fans for home games, they obviously have the backing and the money to get these players in and support these players – but even if this owner comes in, because of the wage cap, they won’t be able to maybe pay over the odds to nick players from the Championship, things like that; I don’t think they’ll be able to do that anymore.

“So, that’s going to be interesting moving forward because like I say [if] this person comes in with money [and] they can’t spend it, what good is it? That’s my opinion of it.”

The Verdict

There's no doubt that a takeover will be good news for Sunderland supporters, but they must not get carried away.

Restrictions to wages will stop the Black Cats from throwing money at the league in an attempt to get promoted and that's why it's so crucial that the team keep picking up results.

Promotion is key this term, and that must be done regardless of the takeover saga.