Talks were ongoing on Friday night as Craig Whyte attempts to complete his takeover of Rangers.
The Scottish tycoon was in Edinburgh on Thursday for what was a positive day of discussions with current owner Sir David Murray and members of the Rangers board. The buy-out bid is still awaiting ratification by the Takeover Panel, with some technical issues to be ironed out before the deal is rubber-stamped.
The deal - worth a reported £52.5million - is close to being done and all parties are keen for a resolution before the weekend is out. If that happens, an official announcement would be made to the Stock Exchange on Monday morning.
Whyte first confirmed plans for a takeover and revealed he was in talks with Murray International Holdings back in November, and months of negotiations have followed. If successful, the 40-year-old would take over 75% of Murray's shareholding, with London-based property developer Andrew Ellis becoming a 25% partner.
The change in ownership would be good news for manager-in-waiting Ally McCoist, with Whyte initially believed to be willing to invest £25million in the playing squad over a five-year period.
A source then claimed last month that Whyte would make available a sum of "significantly more" than the average £5million per season ahead of the new campaign.
But current boss Walter Smith - who quits at the end of the season - was determined to ensure takeover talk does not detract from his side's task of winning the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.
Rangers head into Saturday's game against Hearts with a single point advantage at the SPL summit, having played the same number of games as Celtic, with three fixtures remaining.
Of the takeover, Smith said: "It has been going on for months and months. We have reached the stage where we would like to concentrate on the football.
"We've got ourselves into a position where maybe during the season we didn't think we would get into and I would like our whole concentration to go on that. Whatever is surrounding the club and whether it's sold or not sold today will take care of itself. It's more important for us to make sure we concentrate on the last three games."
Source: PA
