South Yorkshire and Brad Pitt may not at first glance seem the most obvious of bedfellows but, after Tuesday’s seismic events at Barnsley, the two may forever be connected.

Barnsley, who are 20th in the Championship and have lost five of their past seven games, saw their takeover by the Chinese investor Chien Lee completed, with the baseball pioneer Billy Beane – the inspiration behind Pitt’s 2011 movie adaptation of Moneyball – also investing in the club.

The takeover has been ratified by the Football League and the consortium has assumed control from the club’s long-time owner, Patrick Cryne, who in September revealed he has terminal cancer. Lee is joined by Paul Conway and Grace Hung, of Pacific Media Group, while the businessman Neerav Parekh will also invest.

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Beane, 55, who transformed Oakland Athletics’ fortunes with the use of statistical analysis to identify undervalued talent during his time as the general manager, has a long-standing interest in football.

In 2014, he told the Guardian: “Quite frankly, I can’t get enough of soccer. I tell my jingoistic friends in the United States there’s a reason why it is the world’s No1 sport. The rest of the planet can’t be wrong.”

A Barnsley statement read: “We are delighted to further announce Mr Lee, Mr Conway and Ms Hung joined the Reds in the directors’ box at Brentford on Saturday, showing their support to Paul Heckingbottom and his players, along with all staff and fans connected to Barnsley. The club would also like to welcome Neerav Parekh and Billy Beane.”

Lee bought 80% of Nice in 2016, where he sits on the board alongside Conway, who is also a director at the Ligue 1 club. Lee and Conway will become co-chairman at Oakwell and will hope to have a similar effect as they did at Nice, who qualified for the Champions League for the first time in their history this season, although they did not reach the group stage.

Conway said: “Similar to our investment in OGC Nice, we expect to further enhance the academy, playing squad, commercial operations and fan experience of Barnsley Football Club. Barnsley has some of the most passionate fans in England and we look forward to meeting many of its supporters in the upcoming weeks.”