The son of former Everton and Oldham Athletic manager Joe Royle is working on a deal to buy the Latics.

The Sun says Darren Royle, son of legendary Latics boss Joe, has found backers who want to buy the League Two outfit.

Insiders reveal an approach has been made but the asking price is still too big.

Although the interest remains and will be revisited in coming weeks.

Oldham have been looking for new buyers for some time as they toil to make ends meet and grapple with problems off the pitch.

Past bidders have described the price as unrealistic, with demands over £5 million for ownership of the club - but no concrete deal for ownership or lease of the stadium.

All interested parties are waiting on the dispute over the ground to be settled first.

However, there is no timetable for that.

In the meantime John Sheridan will try to keep Oldham in the EFL, an outcome that becomes more and more important with all of the other uncertainty.