The state of play in Swansea City takeover as US property tycoon set to join new era

We may have to wait just a little longer, but change is firmly on the horizon for Swansea City.

News of Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan's decision to sell their majority stake in the club has unsurprisingly injected a cocktail of cautious hope and excitement into a fanbase that's otherwise become increasingly disillusioned with the way their club has been run in the last few years.

Whether that excitement will end up being justified is anyone's guess right now, but this is a seismic shift away from an ownership whose relationship with the fans has been evidently irreparable for some time now.

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Relegation from the Premier League was one thing, but a string of disastrous transfer windows, and an apparent reluctance to properly engage with the fanbase, has slowly caused many to conclude that efforts to rebuild the club have been held back by muddled, and sometimes even outright awful, decision making.

To put it bluntly, most Swansea fans will be delighted to see the back of Kaplan and Levien. Jake Silverstein is similarly set to move on, with current chairman Andy Coleman now poised to take on the leading role at the club.

Coleman is already part of the Swansea Football LLC group that currently owns 74.95 per cent of the club, and is likely to take the most substantial share once the takeover is completed.

The rest of the outgoing trio's shareholding will be taken up by current director Brett Cravat and his business associate Jason Cohen, as well as British businessman Nigel Morris, who already owns a 12 per cent stake.

The Swansea City Supporters' Trust currently own around nine per cent, and it remains to be seen whether that shareholding will be diluted once the move is done. It's worth noting that the trust still has a protected share of five per cent, and they are understood to enjoy a strong relationship with Coleman and the club hierarchy.

It's not yet known exactly how the new overall ownership structure will be broken down, but Coleman will clearly be at the top of the pyramid of power, having already been the on-the-ground decision-maker for the last year or so.

Those cynical of the new era will point out that there have been several mis-steps already under his watch as chairman, although he would no doubt argue that he hasn't always had full autonomy over his those decisions.

Convincing supporters things will be different will be the first item on his swelling to-do list.

The club are understood to still be waiting on the green light from the EFL for the takeover to go through, and there had been some hope that the move would be completed this week. However, it's understood there are still several small details yet to be ironed out.

Insiders have indicated they now expect the move to be approved and announced at some point next week.

At that point we may well get a better idea on the exact details on how things will work, and indeed the identities of fresh investment, which has already been touched upon by fellow investor Cravatt in a recent statement.

Confirming the move in a statement to The Athletic, Cravatt said: "In addition, our collective group, including new strategic partners, is making a sizeable investment into the club. Andy Coleman is running the club and we are all united behind his leadership, and excited for this new chapter for Swansea City.”

Coleman has already claimed the added investment in the club from Cravatt and his associates will be worth as much as £20m, and the full identity of the 'strategic partners' mentioned will likely be revealed soon.

Sources have indicated to WalesOnline that American property tycoon Tyler Morse could well be among them.

Morse, the founder of MCR Hotels, already holds a small shareholding in the club, and his stake is set to be increased as part of the new takeover. The exact value of his potential share isn't yet known, but one source has told WalesOnline that he is expected to take a more hands-on role, and could even be handed a position on the board of directors.

The hotelier recently made headlines for striking a £275m deal to buy the BT Tower in London, which he plans to turn into an 'iconic hotel'. His current portfolio consists around 150 hotels around the world, an estimated worth of £3.9 billion.

What's more, he's understood to be a huge fan of the football club, and has attended numerous games with his family over the years. He was even in attendance at Turf Moor to watch the 1-0 defeat to Burnley last Sunday.

The Los Angeles native is understood to be hugely excited about the prospect of increasing his role at the club, although it remains to be seen precisely how much responsibility he would have inside the upper echelons of the power.

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Insiders have suggested Morse may well be joined by a couple of other new faces inside Swansea's new look boardroom, with Coleman as its figurehead.

The current chairman is understood to be well aware of the importance of making his mark, and has already made moves to try to demonstrate that he will implement a different vision for the club.

In his recent statement confirming the news, Coleman seemingly made a point of trying to distance himself from the previous ownership, an indication that he's perhaps aware that he might have some work to do to get the more disillusioned portions of the Jack Army on board.

“It is critically important for Swansea City to move on from the previous owners," he said. "I want to thank Brett Cravatt, Jason Cohen, Nigel Morris and our partners for coming together to make that happen.

"Together we are bringing more than £20 million directly into the club. This gives us a great foundation to drive Swansea City forward.”

But while hose words will likely strike a chord with some supporters., actions will ultimately speak louder than words.