That would mean he effectively walks away with the now infamous land at Skegby, bought with the loan from the club to his own company, for free.

• Chad questions Stags over takeover and Keith Haslam

Haslam has discussed with potential buyers a non-refundable loan from them to help clear the debt, Chad can reveal.

The land, which now has planning permission to be turned into a community sports facility, is worth more than the £0.5m Haslam paid for it in 2000 and he has valued it at £2m to prospective owners of the Stags.

There is no suggestion that this move — 'a paper exercise' — is illegal, but it will anger most supporters who had always been sceptical about the owner's claims he would repay the loan.

Haslam has publicly stated he is selling the Stags for just £1 — claiming he is replicating the same deal under which he bought the club 15 years ago.

But chief executive Stephen Booth, brokering the sale of the club, revealed recently that prospective owners would need to show they had a minimum of £0.5m working capital to inject into the club.

This was not a demand when Haslam acquired the club — and neither was the request that prospective buyers help to clear a £585,000 debt.

Mr Haslam, Mr Booth and their advisors have insisted that confidentiality agreements are signed by all prospective buyers, but Chad can reveal that some feel the loan details of the deal have placed them in an uncomfortable position.

In effect, Mr Haslam and Mr Booth have found a way to 'zeroise the balance sheet' — so the new owners would have no debt, but no 'money in the bank' either — enabling Haslam to leave with a 'golden goodbye'.

This has caused disquiet among some potential new owners, although John Batchelor, one of the people in negotiations to buy the club, told Chad this week that his deal would include the club 'writing off all debt from the loans made to Keith Haslam'.

And fans will say that either the club is for sale for £1, as Mr Haslam insists, or that it is in reality for sale for £586,729 – the outstanding loan plus £1.

Mr Haslam loaned the money from Mansfield Town Ltd to his own company Stags Ltd to buy the land at Beck Lane for a training academy and community leisure facility, which has still not got beyond the planning stage, in 2000. Despite later promises, he has never repaid it to the football club.

In December last year both the owner and his newly appointed chief executive Mr Booth insisted that he was no longer taking any money out of the club after stepping down as chief executive.

However, when Chad asked this week if the club was still paying for other expenses relating to the owner, Mr Booth said: "Following his resignation his solicitors negotiated a severance package which includes the payment of various reasonable expenses for the duration of his notice period (six months)."

Chad can also reveal that as part of any sale, the owner wants to retain the two minibuses used to transport players to training – and retain his company Range Rover.

And he would also take a benefit from the sell-on clauses for former players, such as Liam Lawrence and Giles Coke, in the future.

Last week some of the details of the proposed sale were revealed by Chad — a £275,000 rent (£175,000 in the Conference) and an option to buy the stadium for £4.25m.

Today we can also report that if the club was to gain promotion to League One, the rent would increase by £50,000 to £325,000, with the buyers having to give personal guarantees to pay the rent.

And Haslam also wants immunity from any tax liabilities, from his time in charge, which the club might face in the future.

The owner wants to retain the former training ground/five-a-side pitches area at Field Mill, which have been allowed to fall into disrepair, even if he sells the stadium. Sources say he has valued the land at £2m during takeover talks.

Fans have questioned why the area has not been utilised by the club - leaving them to pay for the use of training facilities for the players at the John Fretwell Sporting Complex.