Light at end of tunnel for Leeds

Beleaguered football club Leeds United is set to be taken over by a mystery business consortium today.

It said that although talks have dragged on for more than eight weeks since the consortium first expressed an interest they are believed to have accelerated this week as some of the club's creditors turned up the pressure for a deal to be concluded or the club put into administration.

The club is currently bottom of the Premier League with £100m (€148m) of debts. The deal will end the uncertainty which has occurred since the club announced a financial standstill agreement with creditors last December.

The deal is thought to be worth £22m (€32.5m) and could involve selling the club's Elland Road ground and leasing it back. Leeds has repeatedly stated that it does not believe there will be any "realisation of value for shareholders" from offers being contemplated.

The company's shares were suspended on Feb 27 at 275p, giving the company a notional value of £9.6m (€14.2m).