“There is no offer on the table from Sam Hammam or anyone else for that matter,” he said, in response to a report that Hammam’s group would acquire an 80 per cent stake in the club.

“ I wish there was. It would take the pressure off me. For the last 18 months I have been trying to get in someone of note.

“I have been speaking to a number of interested parties including associates of Sam Hammam.

“But people showing an interest is one thing. Putting a deal on the table and having it approved by the shareholders is another.

“Certainly £1.5m would not be enough. The television and Internet contracts we signed last week are worth more than that.” However London sources close to Hammam claimed the City take-over was about to go through.

But City chief executive David Temme said, “There is no-one coming in at present with a majority interest.”

Rumours that the club was about to be sold were untrue and potentially harmful, he said.

Temme dispelled fears that the club could close due to financial difficulties and gave assurances to would -be local investors worried about their backing in the event of a take-over.

He promised long suffering supporters the club’s future was in caring hands. And he expects the contract Billy Ayre has been offered to manage City for the next two years to be ratified at today’s board meeting.

Ayre will be given a budget to improve a squad not good enough to avoid relegation last season plus the power to retain the existing backroom staff of George Wood, Gavin Tate and Colin Pascoe or bring in new assistants, said Temme.

“This is a club with ambition to go back to Division Two and beyond. We only want people prepared to give their total commitment on the pitch and off it.”

Speculation over the Bluebirds’ future has mounted since bookmakers Jack Brown were asked to take £4,000 in wagers on them going out of the Nationwide League.

But Temme added, “People betting in that way have more money than sense. They could be putting that money into shares to help the club rather than for the benefit of the book-makers.

“There is no danger of the club being forced to close for financial reasons. But we do have to secure a broader base through increased commercial income and investment.

“We have an open door policy and there are people interested in investing in the club.

“But newspaper reports of take-overs have not been helpful. Would-be local investors have been holding fire to see if the club was sold. They don’t want to put their own investments at risk.

“But no Mr Big is about to gain control, though if Sam Hammam, Ron Noades, Clive Sullivan, or anyone else came back we would talk to them. If someone made a proposition that was in the club’s best interests we would take it.

“But we are not waiting for something to happen. We are going ahead with our own business plan.

“We have applied to the Football Foundation, which has taken over from the Football Trust, for grant aid to put covered seating at the front of the Popular Stand at a cost of £1.3m.

“And while we are improving corporate hospitality we are also looking to provide better facilities for the ordinary supporter.

“To that end we are increasing the food and drink outlets at the ground.

“We are in the process of establishing bars and a betting shop in an area under the grandstand.