• Firm businessman works for has lent money to EFL clubs
• ‘At best it doesn’t look good,’ says one club executive

The Football League faces a dilemma over whether to approve a proposed purchase of Reading by the American businessman Robert Platek amid concerns from other clubs over a potential conflict of interest.

The League One club announced on Monday they had entered a “period of exclusivity with a potential purchaser”, who the Guardian has established is Platek, the owner of the Portuguese club Casa Pia. The 60-year-old sold his controlling interest in the Serie B club Spezia this month and previously owned the Danish club Sønderjyske.