Wolves for sale: It's a tough old world for millionaires

Millionaires cannot afford to play in the playground of billionaires, says Joe Masi.

Steve Morgan's announcement that he was putting the Molineux men up for sale may have come as a shock yesterday – especially when you consider he stuck around after relegation from the Premier League and the Championship.

But without new and mega rich owners, any club outside the glitz and glamour of the top flight is going to struggle.

It appears as if Morgan has washed his hands of Wolves after he took the unprecedented step of walking away with immediate affect.

These sales usually see a prolonged and protracted handover period, but not for the 62-year-old, who has already passed on all his duties.

He may want his exit to be swift, but – as we have seen with Villa and Albion – these takeovers are never simple.

The Baggies saw their potential sale, believed to be from a group based in the Far East, collapse in July.

In the same month it was announced Randy Lerner was set to stay as Villa's owner after a £150million sale collapsed.

Lerner has been unable to agree a deal with a mystery consortium, thought to originate from the United States.

And it is the fact that both those sales were due to be completed by interested parties overseas that should be of most interest to Wolves fans.

More than 50 per cent of teams in the Premier League and the Championship are now under foreign ownership.

That is because the attraction is an obvious one.

Such is the interest in English football that the vast majority of clubs – even in the Championship – come with a global brand.

TV money, commercial activities and gate receipts mean English clubs are proverbial cash cows with three strong sources of revenue.

Of course, any new owner comes with huge risks whether they are English on foreign.

Roman Abramovich, the Russian owner of Chelsea, has written off more than £1bn he has ploughed into the club since acquiring it in 2003.

Catching him up fast is Sheikh Mansour from Abu Dhabi, who has invested close to £1bn in Manchester City since 2008.

Most of the serious money flowing into football recently has come from the Middle East.

The Qatar Investment Authority (the country's sovereign wealth fund) bought the French Ligue 1 side Paris St Germain in 2011 and has gone about transforming them in the same way Sheikh Mansour has Manchester City.

According to Deloitte, seven of the 20 largest football clubs in the world by revenue are sponsored by Middle East airlines including Barclelona (Qatar Airlines), Real Madrid, Paris St Germain, Arsenal, AC Milan (all Fly Emirates) and Manchester City (Etihad).

However, Vincent Tan – the Malaysian owner of Cardiff City – caused outrage with his re-branding of the club.

The traditional blue strip was changed to red, and the club emblem changed from a bluebird to a dragon.

The decision, which has now been reversed, was to improve the marketability of the club in Asia.

While at Newcastle, English owner Mike Ashley appears to have transformed the club into an extension of his Sports Direct business.

The majority of Wolves fans may be pleased to see Morgan go.

But the only thing that can be said with 100 per cent certainty is that Wolves' future is now very much up in the air.

Morgan has bankrolled the stadium expansion which has been on hold and will now be thrown further into doubt.

And will any new owner want to continue with the clubs policy of buying and developing young players?

Kenny Jackett is also likely to notice the affects, with off the field upheaval often managing to find its way onto the pitch.

It's a damning state of English football that is is now only a billionaire that will be able to take Wolves supporters where they truly want to go.

But a billionaire with Sir Jack Hayward's heart isn't going to be found.

Prepare to enter the unknown.

With all this talk of mega money, I thought it would be nice end on a slightly lighter note.

Liverpool goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux yesterday saw his loan spell at Swindon come to an abrupt end.

Apparently the 21-year-old turned up late for training and got a £50 fine.

He was spoken to by manager Mark Cooper and senior players about his attitude. But then turned up the next day to pay with bags full of pennies.

Cooper wouldn't go into details but said: "It is an internal matter. It is a disciplinary matter. It has come from me and the rest of the players."

The goalkeeper was actually impressing on the field during his time at the County Ground.

Apparently he mounted a Vigouroux defence of his actions, but Swindon were unmoved.