Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman is trying to conclude a deal with controversial owner Roland Duchatelet to buy Charlton Athletic.

Standard Sport first reported in March that a mystery ex-banker with vast experience in football had made a £30million offer for the London club, who can now be revealed is Dalman, who has been acting as chairman at Cardiff for the past six years.

Dalman, who isn’t an investor in the Welsh side, is keen to own a club in his own right and has ambitious plans for Charlton.

Numerous meetings have taken place and should the takeover be concluded as hoped, the 61-year-old will end his role at Cardiff.

It is understood that a fee has been agreed and sources close to Charlton have asked to see proof of funds. Meanwhile, Dalman is going through the club’s accounts.

The news will be welcomed by Charlton fans, who have grown increasingly desperate to see Duchatelet leave the Valley.

Duchatelet has been an unpopular figure there since he bought the club for £17m in 2014. It has been suggested he is asking for up to £60m, but sources close to the negotiations don’t believe that is the case.

The Belgian businessman has introduced a number of measures to try and cut costs with the club losing around £10m a year.

There have been numerous protests staged by the fans against him and yet despite all the distractions off the field, Charlton won promotion to the Championship via the play-offs.

Dalman is one of the richest men in the country and has been involved in the game for a number of years.

He used to have a two-and-a-half per cent stake in Manchester United and helped engineer the takeover by the Glazer family in 2004.

The financier, who was the first non-German to sit on the board of German bank Commerzbank, had been instructed by previous majority shareholders John Magnier and JP McManus to sell their 29.9 per cent holding in Manchester United.

That led to him initially having talks with former Libya dictator Colonel Gadaffi before the Glazers held discussions. Dalman told the Sunday Times last year: “Gadaffi almost bought the club. That’s how close it got - literally, you’re talking about a few hours.”

Charlton have struggled after being relegated from the Premier League in 2007. They have dropped down to League One on two occasions during that period, but Dalman sees it as a club with a lot of potential and one that can benefit enormously from his investment.