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When paid about £8m for 23% of the club more than two years ago the shares were valued at about £40m.

Since then, the club has selected a site for its although the public inquiry means no progress can be made until March 2009. I am told the buyer wanted assurances that there are good prospects of the new home being realised. He also wanted to be assured all the directors wanted to sell. Kenwright, who has been looking for a buyer for the club for sometime, was able to give that.

Although there has been speculation that the Indian billionaire was interested, the buyer is not Ambani or any other Indian.

This offer represents the first genuine bid for the club and if the talks progress well the club could change hands quite soon.

Indeed the Everton sale may go through earlier than Newcastle's.

Seven potential bidders have expressed an interest in Newcastle.

None of them have made a bid or even an indicative offer. The seven do not include the the Nigerians or the South African consortium, which received a lot of publicity for their supposed bids which turned out be more in the realm of fantasy than any real interest.

As I revealed two weeks ago Mike Ashley, who had started off looking for more than £450m, would now settle for about £280m. But given the volatility of the markets this price might have to fall if the sale is go through.

But what about ? Is that the club more likely to be sold rather than Everton or Newcastle? West Ham insist that they are not affected by the crisis that overwhelmed Iceland, the home of its owner , but a sale cannot be ruled out.

I am told in the last few months agents have approached West Ham suggesting deals but until now the club's owner has shown no interest in talking to them.
The crisis in Iceland could change that.

Any such sale would be complicated by the outcome of its legal case with Sheffield United arising from the Carlos Tevez affair.

West Ham are hoping the to overturn the judgement given against at the .

But first Cas has to decide whether to take up the case - it has only agreed to hold a preliminary hearing in order to take this decision so far. No resolution of this dispute may be possible for several months. So a buyer would have to factor in the possibility that in buying the club he may be liable for a further dollop of cash and this could be as high as £50m.

All of which will affect the price and may any potential sale more problematic, particularly in these markets.

In theory all clubs are for sale.
But now there is a further complication. Valuing football clubs is always difficult but the volatility of markets means potential buyers may find they have a lot less money to offer, making a deal very complicated.