Sunderland chief executive Martin Bain has stressed that owner Ellis Short will not put the club into administration.
The Black Cats will play in League One next season after a second successive relegation was confirmed last weekend with a 2-1 loss to Burton Albion.
Although Short has long expressed an interest in selling Sunderland, the running costs and financial forecasts are believed to be hindering a potential sale, with rumours emerging of the club edging closer towards administration.
"If there's no new owner this summer, I need to have talks with Ellis and Chris (Coleman, first-team manager)," Bain told the Sunderland Echo. "We will need to understand what Ellis's appetite and desire and input is, because it is all very well me and Chris putting together a plan but ultimately we need to know Ellis's appetite for that.
"I still have the same desire to work here, the same passion for the club, and the same desire to turn it around, but if it doesn't change hands then everything depends on that conversation with Ellis.
"He does not have any desire to put the club into administration. Ellis funds the club's losses, I have spoken to him and he has assured me he will continue to do so. He has told me that he will not put the club into administration."
According to Sky Sports News, Coleman wants to remain at the club despite their relegation from the Championship.
