EXETER Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter says any major new investment into the club is unlikely to produce instant success on the pitch and could take several years to fully transform the squad.

Club members and shareholders recently approved a bid from American investment group Black Knight Sports and Entertainment, owned by Cannae Holdings, to take control of the Gallagher Premiership side.

Black Knight Sports and Entertainment already own Premier League football club AFC Bournemouth and will now begin negotiations with the Chiefs while carrying out a due diligence process expected to continue until at least the end of May.

If completed, the agreement would represent the latest major financial injection into Premiership Rugby following Newcastle Falcons securing backing from Red Bull last summer and billionaire inventor James Dyson becoming co-owner of reigning champions Bath Rugby earlier this year.

Despite growing excitement among supporters, Baxter warned rebuilding long-term success requires patience.

“Some people are going ‘oh, there’s going to be investment so that means there’s immediate change,’” he said. “Newcastle will be able to understand, when you get significant investment, it actually takes a little while for that to come through, because normally when you need significant investment what’s happened is you’ve under-invested for a few years.”

Baxter explained that areas such as academy development and squad recruitment take time to deliver results.

“Getting that back online, like a really well-funded, well-invested in academy, does take a couple of years to start to bring those players through,” he added.

The Chiefs boss said uncertainty around future budgets has made long-term planning difficult in recent years.

“If we had significant investment, I would think the future moving forward over the next three or four years would be fantastically bright for the club,” Baxter said.

“Because I know where we can invest to significantly improve things and we look pretty good now.”