Pictures of a mystery man seated alongside Ken Bates at yesterday’s game have created a frenzy of speculation as fans try to determine who he is, and whether or not he’s involved in protracted takeover talks at the club.

The middle-aged man, who looks like he could be of Middle Eastern origin wore dark sunglasses and was photographed wearing a Leeds United scarf.

Some fans believe the mystery man was Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, a member of Qatar’s ruling family, however, Sport 360 casts doubt on their theory saying that “it is unlikely such a high profile figure would make himself so visible” adding that official confirmation was impossible to obtain due to Eid celebrations in the Muslim world.

Also pictured in Ken Bates’ executive box was Football League chairman Greg Clarke.

Sightings came just hours after the Yorkshire Evening Post said talks to complete the takeover had been relentless in recent days and claimed a conclusion to the ongoing saga was imminent.

Ken Bates remains uncharacteristically quiet, only breaking his takeover-related silence to confirm talks were ongoing and to express his sympathies to fans for the frustrating summer they’ve endured, adding that most of the rumours were of “pub speculation” quality (and presumably baseless).

Neil Warnock meanwhile said there has been times this summer when he was preparing to “spend substantial amounts of money [on players] but then had to change tack.” Writing in his weekly column for The Independent, Warnock added “with the takeover talk on-going, there may be more to add.”