Revealed! The boardroom and dressing room view on 'exciting' Sunderland takeover as American consortium deal nears

And Sunderland AFC managing director Tony Davison admits it will be an ‘exciting’ time for the club if the takeover goes ahead.

A four-strong American consortium is looking to buy a controlling stake, though Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven would remain involved in the day-to-day running of the club.

The businessmen are John Phelan, Robert Platek, Glenn Furhman and computer tycoon Michael Dell.

News of the proposed takeover broke at the end of August and talks have been ongoing, a deal now close to being completed.

It was initially hoped a deal could be announced at the start of this week but it may now not be confirmed until later this week at the earliest, with work ongoing and no set date.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Athletic, Davison said: “I’m always of the opinion that you say nothing until it’s done, but if it does happen, it’s obviously going to be exciting.

“I think we all need to be realistic in some respects.

“You can’t just throw millions of pounds at a club like in the old days, but at the same time they’re very keen to keep the model we’ve started to build.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to do some of the things we’d love to do but not been able to, improving the fan experience, the stadium, that kind of thing.”

Meanwhile, summer signing Joel Lynch has revealed the mood is relaxed in the dressing room, with the focus on the job in hand – winning promotion.

On the takeover, defender Lynch said: “There are lots of whispers but I'm not sure that the players know anything about it really.

“I think that because things might of happened a few times before people are just keeping my head down and waiting for things to happen.”

He added: "Once this club gets into the championship it will have the resources to push on and go go again from there.

"Given what's happened to the club in the last few years it's been through tough times.

"But I want to play a part in helping it get back to where it belongs.”

Watching the recent 3-1 win over AFC Wimbledon from an executive box were Phelan and Platek.

The duo are set to be joined by Furhman on the new-look board should a deal be finalised, with computer tycoon Dell a passive investor.