Former Sunderland favourite Michael Gray is helping to broker a deal to buy the League One club.
Owner Stewart Donald is desperate to sell but has set the asking price at £37.6million, the figure he says he paid Ellis Short in 2018.
However, Donald borrowed around £25m of the club’s parachute payments to complete the purchase and, as revealed by Sportsmail in May, the current owners have written off the legal obligation to repay £20.5m of that amount.
It means the consortium Gray is involved with are taking their time to examine the club’s accounts before returning with an offer they believe to be fair.