International soccer: The FAI's recruitment team met Giovanni Trapattoni over the weekend in the hope of being able to recommend his appointment to the association's board over the next couple of days.

The news comes amid reports a private Irish businessman with a keen interest in soccer is willing to donate €1 million to help the FAI recruit Trapattoni. The Wexford Youths boss Mick Wallace yesterday refused to comment on speculation he was the prospective benefactor.

Trapattoni (68) confirmed at the weekend he was considering the job after an attempt by Liam Brady to persuade him to pursue his initial interest in it, but he remained vague about his intentions.

"I am thinking about it," he said on Saturday. "I know about a lot of the players, but at the moment it is a dream."

Privately, the Italian is believed to be more interested than his public comments would suggest. Those close to him believed more than a week ago he was firmly on course to be appointed, only for the process to be stalled when news of contact with the FAI became public prompted difficulties with his current employers, Red Bull Salzburg and, in particular, the owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, because Trapattoni had not, reportedly, informed them of his intentions.

But his contract with the club expires at the end of the Austrian season, which itself finishes early this year because of the European Championships, and the club would not be expected to hinder his attempt to line up his next job; a spokesman suggesting at the weekend the cause of concern was primarily the uncertainty at what is a critical time for the club's defence of its Austrian title.

If, however, Trapattoni means it when he says, as he did publicly at the weekend, he will not make a decision on his future until next month the deal will almost certainly collapse, because the FAI, under growing pressure from critics, will feel obliged to wrap up the process.

Still, the prospect of appointing one of the game's most successful club managers clearly appeals to the FAI's leading figures and would, retrospectively, more than justify the length of the search. The hope, therefore, will be that with the Italian already having indicated the broad acceptability of what is on offer, a more detailed agreement can be reached that would allow him to take over once the Austrian league season ends.

If that happened he would be in place for Ireland's next game, against Serbia in May, though a friendly could still be pencilled in for next month, in which case the permission of his club would have to be secured if he were to take charge.

With his prospects of landing the post under serious threat, the long-time frontrunner Terry Venables went public on the matter for the first time at the weekend, giving interviews to a number of newspapers long supportive of his candidacy and restated his desire and availability for the job.

"I'm still in the race and I still want the job and the FAI know that," said Venables.

"Anyone who says I would not be fully committed to the job is talking absolute nonsense," he added before insisting he could start work "today" if required.