Sign up NOW for your daily Rams newsletter direct to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Mel Morris is reportedly considering selling Derby County for £1 as he steps up his search for fresh investment in the club.

According to The Times , the Rams owner may be willing to sell for the nominal price, as long as his debts are repaid in the process.

Morris has previously revealed that he has invested more than £100m in the club since becoming sole owner in 2015. The Times says that figure is understood to now be £161m.

The local businessman has also stated that spending cannot continue at the current rate, with the club still in the Championship.

"It’s impossible to spend at the level we have year after year," he said.

Morris has also said he would be open-minded about the prospect of outside investment, as long as it was in the best interests of the Rams.

The Times says there has been interest from the Far East as well as the United States , though no formal bid has been received as yet.

The report adds: "Morris is understood to have received several proposals from interested parties willing to take on a percentage of the club’s debt to him, plus the promise of further staged payments if Derby are promoted to the Premier League, but has yet to find any acceptable and is holding out for a better deal."

Derby are in their 11th consecutive season in the Championship.

They have reached the play-offs in three of the last five seasons.

The Rams lost to Queens Park Rangers in the 2014 final and at the semi-final stage to Hull City in 2016 and Fulham in 2018.

Derby are in the promotion hunt again this season and are a point outside the play-off zone in eighth place, with nine matches remaining.