DEPARTING Cherries chief Paul Baker claims he was forced to make a dramatic U-turn in the club’s sale process after the frontrunner “changed the dynamics of their bid”.

Cherries’ protracted ownership saga last week took a final twist when Baker had a change of heart by agreeing to sell to the Murry Group instead of the preferred bidder.

Baker, who had been trying to sell the club since February, initially struck a deal – in principle – with a mystery bidder, whose identity has continued to remain a closely-guarded secret.

Representatives of the group were asked to back up their interest by lodging a deposit, which would have given them a period of exclusivity to carry out further due diligence.

However, after the funds had not been received by Tuesday, Baker decided to pull the plug, leaving the Murry Group – headed by Dorset businessman Adam Murry – in pole position.

And the Murry Group, which includes former Cherries directors Jeff Mostyn and Steve Sly, together with property magnate Eddie Mitchell, is expected to be unveiled as the club’s new owners early this week.

Speaking to the Daily Echo, Baker said he was still bound by a confidentially agreement which prevented him from revealing the identity of either bidder.

But Baker added: “There were two bids which came to the table and, from a personal point of view, both were acceptable.

“From a club point of view and from what I was told by both bidders, they both had big plans for the club. The proof of the pudding would have been in the eating as I had no way of knowing whether they would deliver on these plans.

“We were in a position to make a decision on a preferred bidder before one of the parties came back to the table and completely changed the dynamics of their bid. It wasn’t acceptable to me.

“We were dealing with extremely tight time frames and deadlines and I had to give assurances to the authorities and the Football League about the club.

“One group were hungry to go forward and press on with the deal, the other group wanted to go back to the negotiating table and I just felt it was too much of a risk to dally any further without making a decision.

“I couldn’t gamble on extending anybody’s time frame to do a deal. We had already agreed with both parties, it was just a case of them doing what they said they were going to do. To come back and tip it all on its head was not acceptable.”

Baker said the deal had been finalised subject to the legal paperwork being completed, which, he said, would be a formality.

• Don't miss the full list of fixtures for Cherries 09-10 season in this Thursday's Daily Echo