If Sunderland fans thought they could get rid of Stewart Donald once and for all, they can think again.
Although the current owner is interested in selling the club, the recent bid submitted to him means he will keep at least a 15% stake in the club.
Donald has always reiterated the point that if further investment comes to Sunderland, he still wants to be part of the project to ensure his voice is heard.
Although is influence is now dwindling as the weeks go on, it can be no bad thing that the Black Cats are on the verge of a takeover.
Last week, The Guardian claimed that Donald had accepted a bid from Juan Sartori - who owns a 20% stake at present and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus.
The deal could be wrapped up in the next two weeks, but there are a few more obstacles at play before everything is concluded.
Just like Newcastle's takeover earlier this summer, they will need to pass the owners' and directors' test to ensure that Dreyfus is fit to own a football club.
However, there could be yet another spanner in the works for Sartori and his consortium.
That's because according to the Sunderland Echo's Mark Donnelly, there is at least one other party interested in the football club.
He wrote in a Q&A over the last few days:
"To address the first point, the bid from Juan Sartori and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus is certainly moving in the right direction. The wheels have been in motion on this one for a number of months and sources indicated to us in the last fortnight that were Stewart Donald to sell his stake in the club (or a chunk of it), that Sartori and another party would be the likeliest buyers.
"But while talks are at a fairly advanced stage, nothing is done yet. It’s also understood that there are other groups waiting in the wings.
"There were reports in national titles about an American investor keen on a deal, and we understand there is at least one other party keen to strike a deal with Donald - who were shown around the Academy of Light and Stadium of Light over the summer.
"But for now, it’s Sartori and Louis-Dreyfus in pole position to get a deal done."
GIVEMESPORT'S Matt Dawson says...
Of course, it would take an improved bid to now top Sartori and Dreyfus who appear odds on to complete a takeover of the club and fend off interest from elsewhere.
At present, it's not completely clear who this other party is, though. Equally, we aren't aware of the money involved.
Reports from Bloomberg earlier this year claimed that Donald was looking for around £40m in order to sell up, but journalist Alan Nixon then claimed that no interested investor was willing to pay such a sum of money.
This was at a similar time that Hong-Kong businessman Sammy Yu's name emerged on the scene. A man with a known interest and admiration for Sunderland, he's rather crept into the shadows in recent months.
Although another party was shown around the facilities last summer, we're yet to hear word from anywhere else of another bid.