KEN Anderson has revealed a buyer looking to pump “£70-80million” into Wanderers’ transfer kitty fell at the final hurdle this summer.

Speaking to fans on Tuesday night, Anderson confirmed a deal had reached advanced stages with one international businessman, who has since experienced financial difficulties of his own.

Several overseas parties had been in contact with the Bolton chairman and his advisor Paul Aldridge, with varying degrees of success.

“There were a number of people, including locals, who said they wanted to invest in the club, or wanted to buy the club outright,” Anderson explained.

“They basically fell into three categories: One, complete lunatics, two, people who said they had the money but when asked to show it and despite numerous promises couldn’t produce it, and third, we ended up with probably three serious people. Two of them were billionaires and one was a substantial millionaire.

“We got a long way down with one of the people who wanted to come in and invest a lot of money into the club. Figures that were mentioned were £70-80million to buy players in the transfer market and go for the Premiership.

“We got to round about July and everything had gone in – they’d done their research and due diligence on the club – employed a top London law firm to look through the accounts and came away quite happy. Then it all went very quiet, and of two weeks ago I was told that the person’s funds had been frozen world-wide.”

Anderson has called a halt to any talk of selling Wanderers until next summer in order to concentrate on trying to stay in the Championship.

“It was unsettling for the team, the staff and the management – whether they’d have a job, whether they’d stay,” he explained. “We stopped all negotiations and discussions.

“It is a bit different owning a football club, as I found out, to saying you are going to sell your house because if you put a for sale sign up, someone comes along, if you don’t, they generally don’t.

“Even though I have said I don’t want to talk again until the end of the season if that billionaire resolved his problems or another one came along and I thought they could take the club to the next level and compete with the Middlesbroughs, Leeds and Derbys, I would talk to them. That’s me being honest.”