Derby County: Chris Kirchner expected to be named as preferred bidder

Chris Kirchner has revived his interest in buying Derby County, with the club six points adrift of Championship safety

US businessman Chris Kirchner is set to be named as the preferred bidder to take over Derby County.

Kirchner is expected to be confirmed within 24 hours.

His offer for the Championship club comes three months after he withdrew an initial bid to take the Rams out of administration.

He revived his interest in relegation-threatened Derby after takeover talks with fellow second-tier side Preston North End collapsed last week.

Since the news, Kirchner has deleted his Twitter account after historical sexist and homophobic posts emerged.

BBC Radio Derby understands that he accepts the messages, from about 10 years ago, are unacceptable.

Derby manager Wayne Rooney backed Kirchner's attempt to buy the club when the American first showed interest last year.

Despite indicating in November that he was keen to press ahead with his attempt to takeover the club even after the Rams were deducted nine points for breaches of accounting rules to add to a 12-point penalty for going into administration, he ended talks a month later.

At the time he said he made a formal offer to buy the club and felt he "presented a very detailed, generous and ambitious long-term sustainable business plan".

He had said his plans to buy Derby included the purchase of its Pride Park Stadium home from former owner Mel Morris.

His interest in including the stadium as part of his latest bid is not known.

Kirchner was pictured watching Derby play at Pride Park just weeks before he said he would "stand aside and let the administrators pursue their own course".

The English Football League (EFL) are waiting for an update from Derby's administrators Quantuma about Kirchner's selection as preferred bidder.

An EFL board meeting is due to be held on Thursday, with some kind of update on the whole Derby situation expected by then.

Despite announcing a number of times since December that confirmation of a preferred bidder was imminent, Quantuma have failed to name anyone.

Former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley and a consortium that includes former owner Andy Appleby and backers from the United States have been among the interested parties.

Quantuma last week said delays were "beyond their control".

The decision to place Derby into administration was taken by Morris after proposed takeovers by Derventio Holdings and Spanish businessman Erik Alonso collapsed last year.

As well as the club's debts, including £29.3m owed to HM Revenue and Customs, the search by administrators Quantuma for potential new owners was held up by claims for compensation from Middlesbrough and Wycombe because of Derby's breaches of financial rules.

Middlesbrough eventually reached a "resolution" over their claim after Morris offered to personally accept responsibility for meeting it.

After giving Derby an extension to provide proof of funding to complete the season, the EFL said on 3 March that the administrators had supplied a forecast showing "sufficient cash" was available.

'Positive news, but the story is not over yet'

Analysis - Simon Stone, BBC Sport football reporter

My understanding is the agreement was concluded last night, so now it is anticipated the administrators will make a formal announcement and contact the Football League.

The crux of the issue now, as I understand it, is the 15-point deduction for not paying outstanding non-football creditors 25% of what they are owed.

In theory, this deduction should be applied next season.

However, I know the EFL were open to the idea of taking the points off this season if it was at a point when Derby's future was still to be determined.

Evidently, it still is. Realistically, it wouldn't take anything like the full 15 points to relegate Derby to League One from where they are now.

This is the most positive news out of the club for a long time. But the story is not over yet.

Additional reporting by BBC Sport's Andrew Aloia.