Prospective owners of Manchester United have been told they have until 21:00 GMT on Wednesday to submit second, revised bids for the club as the takeover saga accelerates.
Just how strict this deadline is, and whether any other bidders emerge, remains unclear.
But it could mean that a 'preferred bidder' is declared by Raine - the investment bank conducting the sale - very soon, with it then granted exclusivity on the more thorough due diligence process that would take place.
It means the only two publicly-declared bids - Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim and Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe - will have had just a few days to consider the data and information they discovered last week during visits to Old Trafford and the club's Carrington training complex.
Just how strict this deadline is, and whether any other bidders emerge, remains unclear.
But it could mean that a 'preferred bidder' is declared by Raine - the investment bank conducting the sale - very soon, with it then granted exclusivity on the more thorough due diligence process that would take place.
It means the only two publicly-declared bids - Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim and Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe - will have had just a few days to consider the data and information they discovered last week during visits to Old Trafford and the club's Carrington training complex.