Leeds call the haulier back

The looming threat of relegation and pressing loan repayments have forced Leeds United to return to the negotiating table with the haulage magnate Steven Parkin, but the club insists he will have to put up at least £15m to buy new players to secure the deal on top of whatever it costs to take over the club.

Last week the board knocked back an initial offer of around £20m from the chief executive of the Clipper Group of haulage and warehousing companies but despite speculation that the talks had broken down irrevocably a deal remains likely.

Melvyn Helme, a member of the new Leeds board, insisted yesterday that the club would only do business if potential bidders cleared the immediate debts and put up to £25m into team building.

"If we were to step aside - and we would if somebody came in who we thought had the best interest of Leeds United at heart - the minimum requirement would be that they could put in a substantial amount of money for player purchasing. We're talking probably £15m to £25m," said Helme, the club's corporate finance director.

But Parkin, whose approach has received the backing of supporters' groups, is believed to be playing a waiting game. The club, still more than £50m in debt, must find a £3m loan repayment before the end of May. Plans to sell or mortgage the ground foundered after potential buyers said it was overvalued by as much as £12m, the offer of 20-year season tickets at £4,000 each has attracted fewer than 100 applications and an agent has been appointed to sell off players.

The managing director David Richmond, who was thought to be close to resigning last week after his fellow directors rejected Parkin's approach, defended Phillip Morrison's appointment. "All we are doing is if - and it is only an if - we get relegated then we want to be prepared to give ourselves the very best opportunity to come back next season," he told the club's website.

West Ham's chairman Terence Brown has hit back at criticism of his regime, denying that the club is in financial difficulties and promising to take legal action against the pressure group campaigning against him. He offered no answers to the questions posed by the Whistle group but urged supporters to "ignore this nonsense".

"It is unacceptable that, at such a crucial time in our season, someone should seek to undermine all the hard work of [the manager] Alan Pardew, the players and our staff."