Manchester City executive chairman Garry Cook admits club owner Thaksin Shinawatra is actively seeking to sell part of his share in the club.

Cook said: "His lawyers are working through everything. We have talked about selling part of his stake to an equity partner who would come in and take a little bit of the pressure away from him so the Premier League would get more comfort out of the restructuring of the board.

"We've talked about so many different options. But one thing we are adamant about is not to give up the majority stakeholding.

"Dr Thaksin is in a political situation and a case that affects his assets, so that's well documented. So that's a hurdle.

"So the hurdle is, is there never going to be any more money? The challenge is, 'Dr Thaksin, what are we going to do?' He says, 'Well here's what we are going to do and here's how we are going to do it, because this will all resolve itself. But I need some time. OK, great'.

"If I was to say to him, 'is it true we haven't got any money', he'd fire me on the spot.

"The truth of it is this club is not going to go out of business. This club is not bankrupt. We're moving forward."