Rob Couhig has advised clients in thousands of legal disputes, argued cases in hundreds of courtrooms, bought and sold businesses, run a successful baseball team and taken former non-Leaguers Wycombe Wanderers to the second-tier Championship but he has never experienced anything like his attempt to buy Reading.

After months of difficult negotiations, the 75-year-old American’s takeover of the club in League One, the third division of English football, collapsed at the final hurdle in September, without any explanation from Reading or their Chinese owner Dai Yongge.

Since then, Couhig has not said anything publicly, politely declining requests for comment. Until now, that is.

“I have deliberately not said anything because I would still like to do the deal we agreed,” he told The Athletic.

“To this date, I have not been told why the deal wasn’t done. All the documents had been drafted and circulated by the sellers’ lawyers and they had been signed by every party, including the minority owners in Thailand, apart from Dai Yongge.

“I got up that Monday morning thinking it was finally the day when we would get the keys — I told my wife I would be off to England again. But I then saw an email from our lawyers saying the money we had loaned the club had been returned. No…