NRL club ‘to buy and rebrand’ Salford Red Devils as details revealed
Salford's players are once again attracting interest.
NRL heavyweights Sydney Roosters could buy Super League strugglers Salford Red Devils and rebrand them to the ‘Manchester Roosters’, according to a report Down Under.
Salford‘s financial plight has been ongoing since November 2024, and has heavily impacted their abilities to perform on-field s far this season.
Marc Sneyd (Warrington Wolves), Brad Singleton (Castleford Tigers), Tim Lafai (Retirement) and Kallum Watkins (Leeds Rhinos) have all had to be sold or released to generate much-needed cash.
For the first time since their takeover by a Swiss consortium went through at the beginning of this year, players and staff received their wages on time this month, with their money paid in a day early.
But with no real end in sight to their troubles, and the club’s Super League status being at risk due to an already-low IMG score, the future doesn’t exactly look bright.
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NRL club ‘to buy and rebrand’ Salford Red Devils as details revealed
Talk of the NRL buying into Super League has raged on long before the Red Devils’ plight came to fruition.
But if that does happen, then Salford could be taken over by the 15-time champion Roosters, according to leading NRL reporter Michael Chammas.
Speaking on the ‘100% Footy‘ show Down Under, he explained: “I can tell you that Nick Politis (Roosters chairman) and Sydney Roosters have had some conversations with the NRL.
“They like the point of the NRL buying into it (Super League) to the point where they’ve actually discussed the possibility that if the NRL do get involved, they (the Roosters) want to look at buying a team.
“There’s been talks before about London and whether or not they’d be for sale, but the team I’m hearing at the moment are Salford.
“I hear the Roosters are eyeing Salford, and looking at potentially rebranding them as the ‘Manchester Roosters’ if the NRL does take control of Super League.
“We know what they’re doing at the moment in LA. They’ve got a team over there, the LA Roosters, and that wouldn’t be in the same realm as this.
“This is a Super League club, and potentially rebranding them. Salford at the moment are struggling financially.
“They (the Roosters) think because it (Salford) is close to Manchester, they can play there, rebrand the team and then you have that pathway for players to come from England straight into the Roosters’ system. It could be a good move.”
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