Mike Ashley feels Derby’s administrators do not want him to buy the club and is considering investments elsewhere while their lack of co-operation persists.
The former Newcastle owner’s advisors have made no progress with administrators Quantuma in recent weeks and, as one source said: ‘He is stood at the gates with his cheque book but they’ve locked him out. They have made him feel like a pariah.’
However, with insiders casting doubt over the viability of rival interest from the US-based Binnie brothers and a consortium involving ex-Derby chairman Andy Appleby, were Ashley to walk away it would raise the question of who is going to rescue the debt-ridden club.