I think the owners are trying to limit their current and future losses and make sure the club is sustainable. They will never recoup anything of what they have sunk into this club, it is almost literally worthless and still operating on a loss. I have no sympathy for the owners, they dug their own hole, but they are trying to fill it in.
Mittal never had any interest in the club, it was a toy for his son in law, who lost interest when a bigger character turned up. Bhatia is a major investor in Snapchat, which is losing users and has a share price which is in free fall. I don’t think he has that much business nous, but he has a very rich backer.
Freeman cost us something like £350k. If we can sell him for £4m it’s a sensational return and fits the business model perfectly. But Fernandes will regret his ‘not for sale’ tweet, will get him tons of grief. Enough grief to make him walk? Interesting.
The ambition of the club is to survive as a sustainable business. What mystifies me is how they conned McClaren into taking the job, unless he was truly desperate.