If Bennett does make a move to take over, it would be the third time in under a decade the man, who it has emerged is owner of Dens Park, has made moves to buy one of the city’s big two football clubs.

Bennett is presently taking steps to sever his links with Dundee, which, as well as having the stadium as part of his property portfolio, are understood to include a six-figure loan, involvement in the debt and an option to buy a controlling interest in the entire club.

New Dens director Calum Melville is set to take up those interests at a personal cost of around £1 million and that will free the way for Bennett to rejoin the board at United, just a year after resigning as a director there.

He has already agreed to that return, but sources close to him are saying he does not want his fresh involvement with United to stop there.

Bennett has admitted privately that, over the space of the next year or two, he could see a situation where he takes over control of United from the Thompson family.

It would not be the first time he has made a bid and, in 2002, he looked favourite to buy out Jim McLean’s shareholding.

He dithered, though, while the late Eddie Thompson acted decisively and persuaded McLean to sell to him instead.

After effectively leaving Tannadice early last year, several months in advance of his formal resignation, Bennett also struck a deal to assume ownership of Dundee.

Following strong objections from his wife, last October he pulled the plug on the deal just hours before a Press conference to announce his arrival.

By that time, he had invested heavily in the Dark Blues and it has now come to light that part of his bid to help the club included taking up ownership of the shares in the holding company that owns Dens.

He also appears to have been involved in a deal with bankers HBOS to take on Dundee’s debt for just £500,000, though confidentiality agreements that were signed at the time prevent all involved parties from commenting publicly.

Notoriously publicity-shy, Bennett has told BBC Scotland that, despite being a United fan, he did not like the thought of Dundee going out of business and that is why he helped out last year.

Contrastingly, Dundee believe his failure to complete the takeover was due to objections made by his wife, and have said so in a statement.

“Over the last 14 months, John Bennett has made various approaches to buy Dundee FC. He has failed to follow through each time, citing challenging domestic circumstances,” it read.

“During this period, he has loaned various sums of money to the club in return for an option to buy a controlling interest. In recent months, he has repeatedly made it clear to the DFC board that he has no intention of exercising this option.

“The Board cannot comment on the points raised regarding arrangements with Bank of Scotland, as we are prevented from doing so by a confidentiality agreement.

“Mr Bennett is bound by the same agreement. It is true that Calum Melville, a recently-appointed director of Dundee FC, has instigated negotiations with Mr Bennett to relieve him of his interests in the club.”

Those negotiations have reached the stage of lawyers discussing contracts and Dundee will, obviously, want to see what has become an embarrassing situation addressed as quickly as possible.

Dens chairman Bob Brannan would not give a timescale for that to happen, but clearly expects a deal to be done in the near future.

“These things often take longer than you think they will, but, if everyone is being reasonable, it should happen within a reasonable time.

“John has made it clear he no longer wants to be involved with us and we are now taking the steps that need to be taken to make that happen.”

United, meanwhile, will happily welcome Bennett back later this summer — but only as a director.

Right now, any offer to buy the Thompson family’s controlling interest would be met with a polite “no” and that is a position that is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.

That’s been made clear today and chairman Stephen Thompson was also at pains to stress Bennett’s links to Dundee, which will have to be severed before he returns, were not an issue for his club to comment on.

“I am on record as saying John would be welcome to return here and that has not changed. Any business he has to conclude with Dundee is a matter for him and not me,” he said.

“John will be a valuable member of the board, but I have to stress there are no plans for my family to sell the club to anyone. My father started changing things here and it is my intention to continue that process.”

Confidentiality agreements signed by the Dens board mean Melville is not at liberty to discuss that, but today he moved quickly to reassure fans money was still available to fund next season’s promotion drive.

“There are things concerning inaccuracies in what’s come out that I would like to talk about, but I am not in a position to,” he said.

“However, what I can do is tell fans that this does not dent our capability in pursuing people in the transfer market — not one iota.

“I want that to be made absolutely clear, because this other matter has nothing to do with the player budget.”

That position is set to be confirmed in the next 24 hours when the pursuit of Partick Thistle midfielder Gary Harkins is stepped up with a fresh bid.

That has seen goalkeeping coach Scott Thomson leave the club, and he will be replaced by a player-coach next season.

Thanking Thomson for his efforts, boss Craig Levein admitted the change was partly down to the harsh economic climate.

“I am making this change to bring in an experienced goalkeeper, who will still be available to play and coach as well,” he explained.

“That will free up cash to bring in another first-team player, which makes it the sensible option.”

And strengthening the squad for another crack at European qualification next term is the gaffer’s No. 1 priority.

“Missing out on the last day yesterday is a huge disappointment and we are all still feeling it today, but, if you look at where we are now as compared to a couple of years ago, things are much better,” he added.

“That’s back-to-back fifth-place finishes and having come so close to Europe will only make us even more determined to get there next time.”

Defender Lee Wilkie, meanwhile will shortly have a tidy-up operation on his knee.

It was a problem with the joint that forced him off in yesterday’s 3-0 defeat at the hands of Rangers.

“There is debris floating around in his knee — and it has locked a few times in training, and, yesterday, it happened in the game,” said Craig.

“We’ve been planning to get it flushed out for a while and, by getting it done now, he should be ready for pre-season training.”

“I’ve admired Kevin since the day I first saw him in action and he put in some sterling displays last season. Hopefully, he can continue that in the SPL,” said the Saints team boss.