Despite recent optimism, multiple sources close to Walgreen remain skeptical about the odds for the drug chain’s $9.7 billion deal to buy Rite Aid.

The Federal Trade Commission is expected to vote Thursday on Walgreen’s controversial merger with its smaller rival, which would create America’s biggest drugstore chain.

Trade publication CTFN reported Monday that sources close to the talks believed the FTC would likely approve the deal.

As a result, Rite Aid’s shares rose 30 percent, to $4.05 a share. That is still well below Walgreen’s $6.50-to-$7 offer, which is dependent on how many stores Walgreen needs to sell to gain clearance.

The price indicates the market’s odds of the deal clearing at close to 50 percent, according to traders.

Nevertheless, “There is not much hope [of it being cleared],” according to a source working on the merger on the Walgreen side.

“I think they are going to challenge the merger,” another DC source close to the transaction said.

Influencing CTFN’s analysis is the fact that FTC Acting Deputy Director Alan Devlin, who has been handling the investigation, is leaving July 3, and the FTC would be reluctant to sue without someone to manage the litigation.

“I don’t think Devlin resigning will be a factor,” a third DC source close to the merger said.

Then, there is the fact interim FTC Chair Maureen Ohlhausen is holding a meeting Thursday at all.

If she wanted to clear the merger, she could simply wait until July 7, when the deal would automatically pass without a vote.

“She wouldn’t be holding a vote unless she wanted to sue,” the source working on the merger said.

The FTC currently has just two commissioners — Ohlhausen, a Republican, and Terrell McSweeny, a Democrat. McSweeny is well known to be against the Walgreen merger.

It would take a 2-to-0 vote to block the merger. In a tie, McSweeny would lose, but would be able to write a scathing dissenting opinion.