A consortium of Irish businessmen have made an offer of more than £3.5 millon to buy Premiership strugglers London Irish as part of a takeover to secure the club’s long-term future with a multi-million pound investment, Telegraph Sport can reveal.

It is understood the consortium is made up of five businessmen, three of whom are based in Ireland, and that the offer was formally discussed with the club’s representatives at a solicitor’s office in London on Thursday.

The formal offer is understood to have been made just before Christmas and the consortium is now awaiting a response from the London Irish board. If it is positive, the takeover is ready to be completed within a couple of weeks according to one source.

The source said the objective of the consortium is “to secure the future of a great club including investing in the squad, coaching staff and management” and that was it prepared to make the necessary investment to return Irish to their previous status as a leading force in both the Premiership and on the European stage.

Another source said that the club required an injection of £10m over the next three years to help Irish to build a squad capable of competing in the Premiership.