THE chairman of Leeds United, Professor John McKenzie, is expected to quit in the next 48 hours to pursue a rescue package in China for the troubled club. The move, which will be confirmed in an announcement to the London stock exchange tomorrow, will take effect immediately and be rubber-stamped at the club’s annual meeting on December 23.

McKenzie has decided to quit to avoid possible allegations of a conflict of interest as he attempts to negotiate a deal to save the club with a group of wealthy Chinese investors. If he is successful, he stands to benefit personally because he is the biggest shareholder on the Leeds United board, with a holding of 4m shares, about 1% of the total. A month after Peter Reid was sacked as manager, McKenzie’s move will cause fresh uncertainty at Elland Road.

Although Trevor Birch, Leeds’s chief executive, is in talks with at least three groups interested in buying the club, including one led by Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Mubarak al-Khalifa of Bahrain, McKenzie believes the best chance of a rescue deal is presented by his Far Eastern contacts.

The businessmen, believed to have extensive interests across eastern Asia and Australia, are understood to have told McKenzie that Leeds have huge merchandising and media potential in the region. Sources say they are considering an investment in the club of between £15m and £20m. They are not prepared to mount a takeover in the style of Chelsea billionaire Roman Abramovich. Instead, they want to provide an injection of cash to help Leeds attract other investors and settle their debts. It is believed they will ask McKenzie to return as chairman if the deal can be concluded.

Leeds, who line up against Fulham at Elland Road today, are facing the even greater financial threat of relegation to the Nationwide Football League. Although they have experienced a mini-revival under caretaker manager Eddie Gray, they are still just one point and one place off the bottom of the Premiership.

The club is £78m in debt and has been given until January 19 by its creditors to find a buyer or big investor. Birch is understood to have received some good news this weekend after the holders of a £60m bond, Leeds’s biggest debt, indicated they were willing to settle for half that amount. A full takeover of the club, including investment in the squad, would cost about £50m.

McKenzie, 65, took over from Peter Ridsdale at the end of March. He was brought in by Allan Leighton, the former deputy chairman who resigned from the board this month to put together a separate rescue consortium.

During his eight months in charge he has overseen a brutal regime of cutbacks, slashing costs by £20m. But he has always been a reluctant football club chairman who didn’t court the public limelight so enjoyed by his predecessor.

Recently he indicated his determination to stand down if any of the club’s remaining assets, such as striker Alan Smith, were sold. In an interview with The Sunday Times in July, he admitted he had considered resigning in the summer after being criticised for his handling of Harry Kewell’s transfer to Liverpool. He said: “The Kewell deal was a bad week and my wife and family wanted me to walk away. I don’t like the profile but I have committed myself to something and I have to see it through.”

Birch also wants to hold on to the club’s best players. He said: “The short-term gain of selling a player can’t possibly be right when you could lose £20m next year by going into the First Division. Look at James Milner, one of the brightest prospects I’ve ever seen, only 18 in January — somebody like him is undoubtedly the future of the club.”

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