The prospect of Sven-Goran Eriksson taking over at Aston Villa no longer appeared so farcical last night. The former England manager's agent, Athole Still, was pictured leaving Villa Park yesterday evening and is understood to be heading a consortium bidding to take control of the Premiership club. He has held talks with the Villa chairman, Doug Ellis, raising the possibility of an unlikely takeover that could ultimately lead to Eriksson being appointed as David O'Leary's successor.

Still's interest in Villa is totally unexpected and means that the club now have three parties seeking to gain control. Earlier in the day Michael Neville offered in excess of £57 million for the club and also indicated that he had "lined up" Martin O'Neill as the new manager. The Solihull-based businessman submitted a formal letter to the financial advisers Rothschild's yesterday that the Villa board will consider over the next 24 hours.

Randy Lerner, the American billionaire, who arrived in the United Kingdom at the end of last week, is the other significant player in the bidding war and has held lengthy talks with the Villa board over the last few days.

His financial muscle, which includes an estimated $1.2 billion (£650 million) personal fortune, marked him out as the frontrunner in the race to succeed Ellis, although the developments at Villa Park late yesterday have put a new twist on the saga.

In a statement released to the stock exchange last night Villa confirmed they have received "a number of indicative offers which may or may not lead to a formal offer for the issued share capital of the company".

Villa's board will decide whether any of those offers should be formalised, with talks continuing during the process of due diligence to establish the credentials of the interested parties.

Lerner and Neville have adopted similar strategies by first trying to gain the backing of the fans. Lerner's team, which is understood to be receiving advice from the corporate financier and former Football League chairman Keith Harris, have made contact with supporter groups. As a lifelong fan, born in Birmingham, Neville will feel that he is in a much stronger position to build bridges and his comments about his plans for O'Leary's replacement will undoubtedly be well received.

"I can't name the people (involved in the consortium) until we get to the next stage but I think the fans and the club will be delighted with the football management team that we are able to attract," said Neville. " I think people will be excited by the name of the person. Any Premiership club would want Martin O'Neill. He's top of the tree."

However, many Villa supporters will be less enamoured with his idea to keep Ellis involved, possibly in a life-president role, at the club.