London Irish will slip out of the English league system on Tuesday unless a major cash injection can be found.
The Exiles players and staff are braced for effective unemployment by Wednesday, as the club’s problems mount.
Rival clubs are poised to raid Irish’s top talents, but will look to capitalise on a flooded recruitment market with cut-price deals.
The RFU will suspend Irish from the Premiership on Tuesday unless the Exiles complete their long-mooted takeover or prove financial stability for the 2023-24 season by the 4pm deadline.
Owner Mick Crossan must also pay the remaining half of May’s wages, having only paid 50 per cent of the club payroll.
Irish have also been hit with a winding-up petition by HMRC, amid an unpaid tax bill.
The growing crisis points towards Irish becoming the third Premiership club to fold in the bleakest of professional-era seasons, after Worcester and Wasps.
The US consortium bidding to take over Irish have failed to provide key details on funding to the RFU, despite the deal first being floated in October.
Representatives of the prospective owners have consistently claimed the group have worked round the clock for weeks to put all affairs in order to complete the deal.
But the players and staff at Irish have steadily lost confidence in a deal worryingly short on detail.
Waste management magnate Crossan bought Irish in 2013 and revitalised the Exiles. His legacy, however, will be in tatters should the club fold.
