The takeover of Rangers by a group of US investors has been agreed in principle — and is expected to be completed by the summer.

Paraag Marathe, Leeds chairman and president of San Francisco 49ers’ investment wing, has been a key figure in the talks, which have been ongoing since October last year.

Marathe’s involvement at Leeds would limit him or the 49ers to under 30 per cent ownership of Rangers under SFA dual ownership rules, and American health insurance tycoon Andrew Cavenagh is also said to be a key figure in the consortium.

The ownership is currently spread widely with former chairmen Dave King and Douglas Park the two largest shareholders but with about a quarter of the club between them.

The US group are aiming to acquire at least 51 per cent of the shares in Rangers and take control of the Ibrox boardroom.

US group are aiming to take control of the Ibrox boardroom by taking at least 51 per cent 

Paraag Marathe, President of 49ers Enterprises, watches Rangers at Old Trafford

Marathe refused to confirm – or deny – his interest in taking over Rangers last week

Marathe is in his 24th year at the San Francisco 49ers and is president of the NFL side’s investment arm, the 49ers Enterprises. They are set up to oversee outside business ventures and major investment opportunities for the club. Cavenagh is co-founder of US based ParetoHealth — who manage around £5.2bn ($6.6bn) in assets.

A period of due diligence is now taking place, while legal paperwork is drafted up.

The change in ownership, however, can’t come quickly for former Ibrox striker Steven Naismith.

Rangers saw a new manager bounce disappear on Saturday following their comeback win over Kilmarnock in Barry Ferguson’s opening match in interim charge, going down 2-1 at home to Motherwell to suffer a third consecutive defeat at Ibrox.

Celtic have won 20 out of the last 25 major trophies in Scotland and are odds-on to add two more before the end of the season, and Naismith pointed out that a series of Rangers managers had failed to sustain periods of optimism.

‘It’s a massive job,’ said Naismith. ‘I think short term, the only real way to close the gap and get competitive again is a takeover and large investment. That’s probably clear. You’re not going to get the time to bring in players that are projects that you’re going to develop. That needs to happen in the background, but still have a competitive team.

‘So, short term, I think it’s critical that this happens and they get more investment, because if you look at the way Celtic have performed and recruitment-wise as well, it’s been very good for the last 10 years. Rangers have been playing catch-up, so they need to close that gap quickly.

‘The takeover brings a bit of optimism but you still need to make the right choices and make the right decisions when you’re recruiting, when you’re picking a coaching staff and beyond. So there is a lot of work to be done.’

Naismith believes any new owner’s priority will be to recruit leaders on the pitch, the former Hearts head coach adding: ‘When it is challenging and it’s 0-0 with 20 minutes to go at Ibrox and the fans are demanding, who’s still brave enough to make the right pass or take a shot at the right time and not just pass off the opportunity?

‘As a player at the Old Firm, you need to deal with the pressure and get used to it, but you’ve also got to see the opportunity and not be scared of it. Too many are scared of that feeling.

‘You’re not sitting here writing all the players off. There’s players that have showed inconsistent good form at times. That’s something to work with, but the main focus of the club has to be competing and winning.

‘That progression of these players can happen on the side, in the background, where there’s not as much pressure on them having to perform every week.

‘So I think the investment side of it has to come and be put into players that are ready-made to deal with the pressure and have a leadership and a mentality of winning. That, for me, is the thing that’s been missing.’

Former Celtic manager Neil Lennon claims the ‘chasm’ that separates the Old Firm can only be plugged by a transformation of the mentality of the Ibrox dressing room.

When asked how big the gap was between Celtic and Rangers, the former Parkhead captain and manager said: ‘It’s a chasm. I couldn’t believe the result from Ibrox on Saturday. I thought with Barry going in there, when he made the change against Kilmarnock, it was a positive one. It was brave, and they got the result and the performance.

‘You’re thinking, well, maybe there’s a bit of momentum there, but they go the other way. So there’s a huge fragility there in the squad.

‘And whoever takes over, whether it be Barry or somebody else, everyone talks about a rebuild. For me, it’s a change of culture and psychology, really, more than anything else.

‘I think they’ve got some good players there, but obviously the psychology of the team isn’t right.

‘They do well when they’re not expected to do well. And when they are expected to win games, they can’t do it. So that needs to change.

‘I think they have to get things right domestically, first and foremost, before they think about anything else.

‘They need to be far more consistent in the league, far more consistent in the cup competitions. Because if they go out to Fenerbahce in the Europa League, the season’s done. We’re only in March.’

Of Rangers’ imminent change of ownership, Lennon added: ‘You can’t just have a clean sweep. Everyone talks about rebuild, and a new manager coming in, and a clean sweep. I’ve been hearing this for the last three or four years.

‘I’m not privy to what goes on inside the dressing room or the training ground, but they’ve got to be far more consistent in their results and performances and grind out results.

‘I don’t know if they can do that, but we’ve all had to do that over the years. Winning breeds confidence, it breeds a better mentality.

‘The home record was excellent, but the Queen’s Park game obviously rocked them in some way, shape or form. You have to get over that. It can happen once in a blue moon, a result like that, but you have to bounce back from it immediately, and they haven’t done that.

‘They’ve lost now to St Mirren, they’ve lost now to Motherwell. Playing for a club like Celtic and Rangers, we all know about the demands and the expectation. You have to handle that.

‘There has to be a change for me in the psychology of the dressing room, rather than a complete rebuild, because I don’t think that will work either.’

Steven Naismith and Neil Lennon were promoting Premier Sports’ live and exclusive coverage of Hearts v Dundee on Friday and Celtic v Hibernian on Sunday in the Scottish Cup.