UK telecoms giant BT reportedly offered its CEO position to Philip Jansen, the co-chief of payments company Worldpay, with an official announcement on the cards next month.

Bloomberg reported the news, but added that Jansen could still turn the role down, according to sources. Should BT secure a new CEO – a position left vacant by the departing Gavin Patterson – it could make the move official on 1 November 2018, when it reports its H1 results.

The publication added BT has lined up alternatives should Jansen reject the offer, with candidates including ex-CEO of its UK mobile operator EE, Olaf Swantee, who currently leads Switzerland’s Sunrise Communications.

However, Jansen is the front runner at this stage.

Sky News reported in September that the Worldpay chief had entered into advanced discussions about taking over at BT, and the job was his to turn down.

Adding fuel to the fire, Worldpay had already announced Jansen was due to leave the company on 31 December.

Jansen is a stalwart in the payments industry and most notably oversaw Worldpay’s $10.4 billion merger with e-commerce platform Vantiv, which closed earlier this year. He also led the company’s market debut, holding an IPO in 2015 that raised $2.8 billion.

BT is still trying to fill the soon to be vacant CEO position, after it came to light Patterson would leave the role around four months ago. Patterson’s departure came amid poor financial performance, in addition to clashes with UK regulator Ofcom and an accounting scandal in Italy.

Along with Jansen and Swantee, Verizon group chief Ronan Dunne and Proximus boss Dominque Leroy, among others, have also been linked to the job.