Southampton administrators are confident sale is imminent

ADMINISTRATORS in charge of Southampton are confident of concluding the sale of the stricken club imminently. A Swiss consortium are believed to be the front-runners to complete a takeover at St Mary's after the Matt Le Tissier-backed Pinnacle group pulled out of the running earlier this week.

Joint-administrator Mark Fry has received offers from other parties, including a reported £12.5million bid from an English-based company named Gillico. But Fry hopes to proceed with one of the earlier bidders as the protracted takeover saga nears a positive conclusion.

"Since our update last week we have continued in our discussions with a number of parties in relation to an acquisition of the football club," said Fry. "We currently are very confident that a sale will be achieved and that this process will be concluded very shortly. We are receiving offers from a number of other parties very late in the day, but are committed to getting the transaction completed with our current buyer."

Southampton's parent company entered administration in April with debts of £30m, and the club will go out of business if a deal cannot be struck.