Rangers: Charles Green-led group near takeover completion

The group in pole position to buy Rangers is fronted by former Sheffield United chief executive Charles Green.

His group joined the race to rescue the crisis-hit club last week before previous favourite Bill Miller withdrew his bid earlier this week.

Rangers' administrators Duff & Phelps said "discussions with two bidding parties are at a very advanced stage".

And they added: "We hope to reach agreement with one at the earliest opportunity."

It is understood Green's consortium has links with British football agents.

During Green's stint at Bramall Lane the Blades were listed on the stock exchange in 1997, but results on and off the field were disappointing.

He quit a year after the flotation and re-emerged in football shortly after as chairman of the football agency Proactive Sports. The Cheshire-based firm had a number of leading stars on its books, including Andrew Cole, Stan Collymore and Wayne Rooney.

But Green left Proactive in 2003 and has since held a number of directorships at medical science firms. He is currently a non-executive chairman of the Singapore-based Nova Resources Ltd.

There are currently three parties with bids on the table for Rangers, who have been in administration since 14 February, and a decision on which bid will be accepted is expected before Sunday's final match of the season against St Johnstone.

An anonymous UK-based group are believed to be the other party having advanced talks while Singaporean businessman Bill Ng, who re-entered the fray after American Miller dropped out of the race, also has a live bid.

The Blue Knights constortium led by Brian Kennedy and Paul Murray have withdrawn their offer after their latest attempt to take control failed.