“People sell items as big as private aircraft in the US but in the UK, eBay can be regarded by some as an online flea market. 

“The purely promotional, unilateral initiative may have been misconstrued by Tranmere fans and the general public. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why this seems to have blown up in Peter Johnson's face.” 

Mr Kosich insisted he had acted for the right reasons, explaining that before the deal not enough Americans were aware that Tranmere were up for sale, or of the opportunity the club represents.

“Some regard Tranmere as small and insignificant because they are not in the Premiership, but that is not the case. Tranmere have so much going for them.  

“They are a prudently run club who are very well placed to make the next move up into the Championship.  They have no significant debts, unlike many English clubs. They are what we call a blue sky opportunity. 

“They just need some extra investment from people who have a passion for football.  It seems people are taking more notice of clubs like Newcastle, Southampton and West Ham who have lost tens of millions of dollars over recent years while Tranmere represent an opportunity to take a club upwards without the investor losing his shirt. 

“Our brief is to find the right kind of investor for Tranmere, someone who will take the same care of the club that Peter Johnson has done for the last 22 years.” 

Mr Johnson said Tranmere were looking for outside investment but not at any cost. 

He said: “One has to think of supporters and the ability to run the club. Putting it on eBay is not the right way of doing it and we would certainly not have let them if they had asked us, so we're pretty furious.”

Johnson refused to countenance the suggestion that Dornoch Capital had done Rovers a favour in the process by getting the sale in the public domain. 

He said: “I don't think we want this sort of publicity and I think a lot of people knew it was for sale because the Daily Post mentioned it last season."

Rovers may have posted trading losses in the region of £1 million in several recent seasons but they boast significant assets.
Unlike many Football League clubs who rent their grounds, Tranmere own the nine-acre site at Prenton Park and the nearby Ingleborough Road training ground. 

They have been attempting to secure planning permission for housing development at Ingleborough Road, which is currently used by the club's school of excellence set-up.