Sunderland's prospective new owner William Storey has claimed his takeover bid has been 'legally submitted and welcomed by the board.
The chief executive of Rich Energy has emerged as a potential buyer with Stewart Donald keen to sell the League One club after resigning as chairman last month.
After first announcing his intention to launch a takeover bid on Twitter, Storey again took to the social media site to update fans on his progress.
He wrote: 'To respond to the queries from fans and media: My fully funded bid has been legally submitted to the club & welcomed by the board.
'Still under NDA & deal currently in the hands of lawyers. My partners & I are working very hard for a successful outcome.'
Sunderland are set for their third successive season in the third tier of English football but Storey told Sportsmail that he wants to take the club back to the Premier League.
'We think with the right people and right investment, we can enjoy a renaissance,' he explained.
'They have got one of the best fan-bases in the world to my mind. The fans of Sunderland deserve a team in the Premier League playing world class football.'
Donald wants £37.6million for the club he bought from Ellis Short in 2018 after accepting blame for the club's failure to achieve promotion in the last two seasons.
Storey has previously said he is committed to investing at least £50million in the playing squad.
'A £50million investment, above and beyond the acquisition, would be a minimum commitment,' he told The Sun.
'The fans need to be excited and I want to make a statement with big names, both on and off the pitch. I've been working on this for around four months and have already got four big-name Premier League players in mind that we could get quickly.'