Derby County can expect to be one of the wealthiest clubs in the Coca-Cola Championship next season after it emerged last night that they are to be taken over by an American consortium that will make an immediate cash injection of about £50 million.

Integral to their plans will be retaining Adam Pearson as chairman of a new board and Paul Jewell as manager. Jewell has met the new investors, whose identity will be revealed at a press conference on Monday.

The deal was only completed late yesterday and Pearson was frustrated that the news had emerged. However, it is in keeping with the ambitions that the former Hull City chairman revealed when he arrived at the club at the end of October that, while Derby may not be able to avoid relegation from the Barclays Premier League this season, they should be well-equipped to re-establish themselves more strongly in the mid-term.

The consortium involves a sports management company that is heavily involved in American football, baseball and basketball and is backed by a number of equity funds. There will be a shake-up of the present board, but it is thought that the new owners have a history of building clubs up and staying with them for the long haul.

American ownership has been perceived as a mixed blessing in English football since the Glazer family bought Manchester United for more than £800 million three years ago. While Randy Lerner’s £63 million takeover of Aston Villa has prompted a marked upturn in fortunes at the Midlands club, who could move into fourth place in the Premier League should they beat Blackburn Rovers today, ownership issues at Liverpool have alienated supporters. Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, who invested £220 million to take over at Anfield last February, have this week completed a £350 million refinancing of the club.

Jewell has been able to bring in six players this month, despite Derby’s position at the foot of the table — they are 13 points adrift of safety — and will be given a sizeable transfer budget in the summer.

Pearson preferred not to comment publicly last night, but in today’s match-day programme for the FA Cup fourth-round tie against Preston North End, he writes: “This new investment will establish the Derby County brand worldwide through successful alliances with sporting teams in the USA, the Far East and Africa.

“The key aim is to continue to build the infrastructure of the club at Pride Park and obviously develop a squad which is renowned as a Premier League force. This will add new financial firepower to the squad.”