Newcastle United were dumped out of the F.A Cup by Manchester City yesterday, with goals from Kevin de Bruyne and Raheem Sterling handing the Magpies a 2-0 defeat in the quarterfinals.

Steve Bruce’s men had a chance to draw level while they were still a goal down, but Dwight Gayle couldn’t convert a fine chance, and they were punished almost immediately at the other end.

The gulf in quality between Newcastle and Man. City was glaring yesterday, but both teams could be challenging for the Premier League title in a couple of years if Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund completes a £300 million takeover of the St. James’ Park outfit.

It’s been almost 15 weeks since the Premier League legal team started carrying out checks on the would-be Magpies owners, and it remains to be seen when a decision will be made.

Former Newcastle striker Mick Quinn is hoping that happens this week, taking to Twitter to post thus:

After yesterday’s exit from The FA Cup,it would be nice if the @NUFC fans got some good news this week about the takeover