Carlisle United chief executive Nigel Clibbens says the club will next week confirm "once and for all" the fate of talks with a mystery foreign investor.

The Blues director said a formal announcement will be made that will clarify whether a deal will be pursued or not.

Clibbens, speaking on BBC Radio Cumbria , would not be drawn on any of the detail of the impending announcement, which he said would probably made "early next week".

It raises the prospect of an end to the 648-day "billionaire" saga, which started on May 19, 2015.

Clibbens said: "The latest is there will be a formal announcement which will bring certainty to this process.

"That will come before next Saturday and we are envisaging early next week.

"That will make it clear where we are going with all this once and for all."

Asked whether his comments implied that a deal was now unlikely, Clibbens said he would not "pre-announce" any of the details of next week's statement.

He added: "It has been difficult, no doubt about it, although when you talk about negotiations for 648 days, in reality the negotiation period has probably been going on for maybe three months.

"Getting to the table to do all that has taken a long time."

Clibbens refused to be drawn on whether the club was in investment talks with any other parties, claiming he did not want publicly to start another "ticking clock".

"The club knows it needs investment, knows it needs succession, and that’s what we've been working along for this time to try and bring that about," he added.

The chief executive, meanwhile, denied the saga has caused "damage" to relations between club and supporters but did admit it had affected things.

He said: "I wouldn't say that I particularly think it's damage. It's cast a shadow over things, no doubt about that.

"Rather than being able to talk about a lot of positive things going on in the club, every time something good comes out it's caveated with, 'and what's happened on this', and the ticking clock.

"I said when I came in I wanted to get it sorted out as quickly as possible. It's taken longer than I thought but at least we'll be able to let everybody know what's going on for sure next week."

Clibbens was also asked whether the club would honour chairman Andrew Jenkins' pledge to name the mystery party whether or not a deal is done.

He said: "We talk every day about this, about fulfilling what we've said we're going to do. We have to deal with that. We will deal with it properly."