Sunderland AFC takeover: New report claims this is the sale offer Stewart Donald is willing to accept for Black Cats

Donald placed the club publicly up for sale in December and has since been working to find new owners.

A new report by Off the Pitch, a football business newsletter, claims: “Sunderland AFC’s owners will cut their asking price for the club by around £5m if the League One club fails to get promoted to the Championship this season.

“A source close to the club said that a base level price of £35m is being offered in order to try and agree terms with a buyer by the end of February.

“Earlier this week a value of at least £40m was reported as being sought by the club’s owners insurance entrepreneur Stewart Donald and his partners, but

Offthepitch.com can reveal this figure is based on promotion to the second tier this season.

"'It’s two prices they’re signing up to. They sign up to the idea of: We’ll pay this amount if the club is still in division one at the end of the season, but we’ll pay you X if the club gets promoted at the end of the season,' said the source."

The report claims US investors would be most likely.

Though it is unlikely to be the FPP group after they moved to dissolve FPP Sunderland.

FPP Sunderland was set to be the American trio Glenn Fuhrman, Robert Platek and John Phelan’s vehicle to purchase a shareholding in the club after they undertook extensive due diligence but a deal was not agreed.

Bloomberg have claimed the Sunderland hierarchy have been holding ‘serious discussions’ with at least two potential buyers.

Donald told Sunderland supporters in December he valued the club at between £30million and £50million - which finance experts have suggested is a reasonable valuation.

Speaking last month, Charlie Methven stated Sunderland had a queue of ‘very credible people’ keen to enter takeover discussions.

The club has also previously been in takeover talks with a consortium led by businessman Mark Campbell.