City have so far rebuffed approaches from their former defender and both an American-based consortium and former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra are reported to be watching developments closely.

Ranson claimed his revised proposal addresses the issues raised by the current City board and called for a face-to-face meeting with current chairman John Wardle to thrash out a deal.

"I first contacted City in 2004, long before I was associated with a move for Aston Villa," Ranson said. "Now I have the financial backing to be successful.

"City have huge potential, on and off the pitch. I believe I am in a unique position to drive that forward having played the game at the top level and then never left it."

If Ranson does succeed in his takeover move, the future of manager Stuart Pearce will be in doubt. The businessman has refused to confirm that Pearce will be kept on if he is in charge.

Speculation over the future ownership of City has been rife since Wardle announced last month that he wanted to sell his 29 per cent stake, which is owned jointly with business partner David Makin.

So far there has been no sign of a deal being concluded although the chairman has been involved in talks with the unnamed American consortium for nearly a month.