Iain Dowie's future as Coventry City manager could be secured by a billionaire businessman who has entered talks to buy the cash-strapped club.

Movie mogul Alki David confirmed negotiations with the Coventry board are at a "very good" stage and he expects a deal to be struck before Thursday, when the club must either prove their solvency or enter administration and incur a ten-point penalty.

Last week, Coventry announced their intention to enter administration in an attempt to bring a successful conclusion to takeover talks with Ray Ranson's Sisu consortium.

It was that move which attracted the interest of David, who appears to have usurped Ranson as favourite to buy the club.

David would take on Coventry's £38 million debt before drawing up a transfer budget, and he hopes Dowie would remain in place to spend it.

Dowie put his future in doubt when he said he would consider his position if the club went into administration.

David said: "Negotiations are at a very good stage and I expect a positive decision to be made soon.

"Coventry is a team which can achieve great things if it is slapped into shape. My aim is to take them into the Premier League and I want to work with the current management team to achieve that.

"I will try to get there with Coventry and also with a team that already plays in that division."

David, 39, grew up on the Greek island Spetses and comes from wealthy stock. His personal fortune is estimated at £4 billion.

His late father was the managing director of the Leventis-David group, a family business which owns bottling plants for Coca-Cola in 23 countries.

He is the majority shareholder and has set up other companies, including Independent Models, the largest modelling agency in the UK, and 111 Pictures Ltd, a UK-based movie production outfit.

He is already a shareholder at Panathinaikos, the 19-times Greek champions, and the Nigerian side Leventis United.

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