Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is in talks with two other groups over a potential sale of the club, following reports he was close to reaching an agreement with a Saudi-backed consortium.
Saudi Arabia's sovereign-wealth fund has been linked with taking over at St. James' Park in a £340m deal which reportedly was 'days' away from being completed, although so far there hasn't been any significant progress.
While Newcastle United aren't any close to being sold to that specific group, the PA news agency (via News Hopper) reports that Ashley is also in talks with two different parties over a potential deal.
Although negotiations elsewhere could offer an insight into exactly why talks with the initial Saudi-backed consortium have gone quiet, it's rightly warned that Newcastle United owner Ashley still might not want to sell the club.
The initial deal, which has been rumbling on for roughly four months, has been organised by British financier Amanda Staveley, who tried to submit a bid of her own to take control of Newcastle United in 2017.
While a small section of fans are excited about the potential cash injection that's needed at Newcastle, most supporters are throwing caution to the wind due to the number of failed takeover bids there have already been over the years.
On the pitch at least, Newcastle United fans have had things to cheer about this season. Even with Rafa Benitez being unpopularly replaced by Steve Bruce and problems with scoring goals in attack, the Magpies find themselves unbeaten since New Year's Day and sitting seven points clear of the relegation zone.
Most recently, two injury time goals from substitute centre-back Florian Lejeune saw Bruce's side pick up a point away at Everton, while before that it was Isaac Hayden's late strike that gave Newcastle a surprise win over Frank Lampard's Chelsea.
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Source: 90min
