The man fronting Firoz Kassam's bid to bring Premiership rugby to Oxford has described Bristol Shoguns owner Malcolm Pearce as "a loose cannon".

There has been speculation over the past three months that Pearce was prepared to sell his Bristol rugby franchise to the Oxford United chairman.

However, it now appears that a merger between Bristol and fellow Premiership strugglers Bath is the more likely option.

Tony Macarthur, Kassam's rugby consultant, said: "I really don't know where we stand at the moment because Malcolm Pearce is a loose cannon.

"One minute he's saying he is going to walk out on Bristol, then he's going to sell to Oxford, and now he appears to favour a merger with Bath.

"He's an almost impossible person to do business with."

Macarthur says he understands that Pearce's objective is to buy Bath, whose owner Andrew Brownsword wants to sell up.

Macarthur said: "Nothing will be decided until after this Saturday's final Premiership games, but I know for a fact that the league are against mergers.

"No contracts have been drawn up between Firoz Kassam and Bristol, but there have been enough discussions and written agreements to make the move to Oxford a real option."

Macarthur said market research had shown that bringing top-class rugby to Oxford would be a viable business due to the large rugby fan base and corporate support.