The administrators of Derby County say they hope to announce their preferred bidder for the club soon.
And they have confirmed each of the three different parties interested in buying the Rams has the “credibility to take the club on”.
A fresh statement from Quantuma said while they had been keen to announce the preferred bidder, current legal wranglings over the club had forced them to hold back.
However they remained hopeful of making an announcement soon – particularly in light of a February 1 deadline set by the Football League.
It has been claimed that they could be kicked out of the Football League if they fail to do that.
The administrators said they had provided the EFL with “three scenarios” in which the funding gap could be bridged – and until an agreement is reached the EFL “will not allow any new player registrations to take place and this does include player contract extensions”.
They also said they had been “hugely impressed” with the attitude and performance of the players and manager Wayne Rooney, at this “very difficult time”.
DerbyshireLive has reported that a consortium made up of former Rams chairman Andy Appleby and ex-Wolverhampton Wanderers chief executive Jez Moxey is keen on taking on the club, while former Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has also been linked.
It said the Rams are believed to owe £60 million to creditors, though Middlesbrough and Wycombe Wanderers are reportedly pursuing the club for a combined £50 million.
Those two clubs have held up a potential sale because of their claims that they missed out on millions of pounds in revenues because their competitor Derby should have been penalised sooner for getting into financial difficulties.
The statement confirmed Quantuma was dealing with the Middlesbrough and Wycombe issues which were “complex and are heavily disputed”.
In their statement the administrators said another issue holding up a potential sale was the possibility of further sanctions from the EFL if the chosen bid didn’t provide the level of compensation the EFL would want to see going to creditors.
It said: “We have highlighted different ways in which we believe these claims can be dealt with and we are in discussions with the EFL in this regard… no interested party is willing to commit to acquiring the club without further clarity on these claims and we continue, tirelessly to find a solution to move matters forward.”
