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EXCLUSIVE: EFL give green light to Abu Dhabi royal's £60m takeover of Derby County... with change in owner set to end the reign for under-pressure boss Phillip Cocu

The EFL have given the green light for Derby's proposed £60million sale to Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehayan to go ahead despite the prospective buyer's links to Abu Dhabi ruling family.

The subject was discussed in detail at an EFL Board meeting on Thursday with no objections raised to the sale proceeding as planned subject to Zayed Al Nehayan agreeing with finer points of the sale with current owner Mel Morris.

Zayed Al Nehayan is a senior member of the Abu Dhabi royal family and cousin of Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour, but despite the potential for conflicts of interest the EFL will not block the sale, as the Premier League did when Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund attempted to buy Newcastle earlier this year.