The Leeds United chairman, Gerald Krasner, said yesterday that he is hopeful the club's future could be secured within weeks.

The Leeds United chairman, Gerald Krasner, said yesterday that he is hopeful the club's future could be secured within weeks.

Krasner, who will hold talks with a consortium led by a local businessman, Norman Stubbs, today following the collapse of Sebastien Sainsbury's take-over bid last week, said: "They are the first consortium that consists of true Leeds United supporters. That is why I have backed them, and I have not backed any of the other consortia as being serious.

"He [Stubbs] is a Leeds United supporter and he believes that we were once a great team and hopefully we can get back there again. They have been talking to us for a couple of months and I believe that if anybody is going to come in with new investment, these will be the people to do it."

The Stubbs consortium is the 13th to come forward, although Krasner was scathing about the Sainsbury bid. "We asked them to put up £50,000 towards our costs by 5pm on Thursday and at 4.45pm, they pulled out," he said. "They could not find the £50,000 even. They were running a media campaign despite confidentiality agreements with us. It was impossible to seriously negotiate with them and they were spoiling the other consortium who we are still talking to."