As if months of rancorous squabbling wasn't enough to end Carson Yeung's protracted takeover of Birmingham City, the final nail was driven into its coffin yesterday when a source close to the bid admitted they would not beat next Friday's deadline.

The Hong Kong-based businessman, had been given until December 21 to produce the £35 million needed to purchase the remaining shares and become the sole owner of the football club.

But it has now emerged that he will not be able to do that, either through the company vehicle of Grandtop International Holdings Limited or in his own right and that, in all probability, will be the death knell for one of the most bizarre transactions in Premier League history.

It had been clear for several weeks that Yeung would struggle to align his financial ducks in sufficient time, though there was the possibility that he might bypass several reams of red-tape by purchasing Blues in his own name.

That no longer seems possible and, with just eight days remaining before the deadline, there is insufficient time to move under the Grandtop auspices.

All that remains to be seen is that if the club's current owners, the Gold brothers and David Sullivan, will be true to their word and call off the deal once the cut-off date is missed. Every public utterance they have made so far suggests that is exactly what they will do.

Sullivan, in particular, has refused to budge on the date and while sources in Hong Kong say they could probably have things ready in time for February or March 2008, by that stage any negotiations will have ended.

Indeed, the news of Yeung's difficulties will be of considerable pleasure to David Gold who, a fortnight ago, described the sale as 'an irritant' and claimed he 'couldn't care less' if the whole thing fell through.

The septuagenarian has been energised by the arrival of new manager Alex McLeish, however, and now no longer wants to part with his holding of just over 23 per cent.

The club chairman's wishes look as though they will be granted and so the question of what happens next must be addressed.

Following his purchase of 29.9 per cent in July, Yeung is still the largest single shareholder. David Gold and Sullivan could be tempted to buy back that stake but Gold has always said he would not act alone. He wants his long-term business partner to remain at St Andrew's and help him turn the club into an established top-flight force.

He has already said he will give McLeish money to spend in the January transfer window and the Scotsman's early comments have struck a chord with Sullivan, who has been impressed with his new manager's view about professional football being a privilege rather than a right.

The only sad irony to arise out of the situation is that it seems Birmingham have lost the most successful manager in their history for no reason.

Last month, Steve Bruce decided he could not stay with City because Yeung had been unable to give him sufficient guarantees about his security of tenure after a verbal agreement on a new contract had been reneged upon.

Nevertheless, Gold and Sullivan feel pleased to have brought McLeish on board and if, as now seems certain, Yeung withdraws entirely, the sale that never was could prove to have been the best piece of business Birmingham City have ever conducted.

Meanwhile, with the transfer window less than three weeks from opening, players have begun to be linked with Blues.

Former Villa striker Milan Baros is one man who has been put forward and the inevitable connections with Everton's James McFadden and Rangers' Kris Boyd, members of McLeish's Scotland squad, have already been made.

The latest player to come into consideration is Real Murcia striker Inigo, although the asking price of £10 million could be too much for even a rejuvenated David Gold to sanction.