Di Stefano yesterday confirmed to the Sunday Tribune that he is fronting a consortium willing to invest in the north Dublin club. Property developer Glen Thomas and former Dundee FC director Jim Connor are also involved in the consortium.

We would see this as a very small investment involving less than one million euro, " said di Stefano. If we can get Shelbourne into the Champions League for the price of less than two cars then it will be a good investment."

Di Stefano will meet with Shelbourne chief executive Ollie Byrne tomorrow night and describes the chances of a deal being struck as very good".