OXFORD United chairman Darryl Eales says he has been baffled by the amount of speculation surrounding his ownership of the club in the past week.

Rumours about a potential takeover bid have gained momentum since it was confirmed by the Oxford Mail that Uruguyan Juan Sartori attended last Tuesday’s game with Bolton Wanderers and met with U’s supporters’ trust OxVox.

Mr Eales was in Abu Dhabi on holiday at the time, but while he has confirmed for the first time Mr Sartori has made contact, the chairman stressed similar approaches were a regular occurrence.

Speaking on Friday, he said: “There’s no point in me (talking) every time someone sends me an email expressing an interest in the club, or even any time I speak to someone, because 99 per cent of conversations don’t go anywhere.

“I would say it’s happened at least 25 times in the last two years.

“In the last six months I’ve spoken to two Chinese people and one Malaysian.

“Whatever is written anywhere else, I can hand on heart say I have not spoken to Juan Sartori and I’ve never met him. He has sent me an email.

“(But) why that particular rumour has taken on a life of its own, I don’t know.”

Mr Eales has consistently said a financial partner would be welcome if United won promotion to the Sky Bet Championship, where they would need significant investment to compete.

Mr Sartori, the son-in-law of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, was put in touch with the U’s chief by Stewart Donald, a businessman and U’s fan involved in helping with OxVox’s attempts to agree a deal with landlord Firoz Kassam to turn the Kassam Stadium into a community-owned facility.

Mr Eales said: “Stewart mentioned he had met the guy and he might be interested in doing something with Oxford United and Stewart thought he was credible.

“I said that’s fine. Juan has emailed me subsequently.

“My preference would be for this not to be in the public domain, because I think it sets a hare running before anyone knows if there is any substance to it.”

Time will tell whether the contact develops into something formal, or fizzles out like all the other approaches.

But for Mr Eales, the worry in the short-term is on making sure the speculation does nothing to steal focus from United’s trip to Wembley in the Checkatrade Trophy on Sunday.

He said: “While speculation might be interesting to a group of fans, we are focused on running the club day-to-day.

“My biggest concern is it’s an unwelcome distraction and it’s not adding anything to the debate ahead of Wembley and an exciting finish to the season.”