According to reports from the Daily Mail, Mike Ashley ‘was hours away from confirming the sale last week’ but the potential Newcastle United owners stopped him from doing so.

The Times and other major media outlets have claimed that a deal in the region of £300 million has been agreed to sell Newcastle.

Previously a deal in the region of £340 million was agreed, but it was reduced to £300m as economic circumstances changed.

It has been reported that Amanda Staveley and her partners, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and the Reuben brothers, have already paid £17 million to Ashley, and it is non-refundable.

All paperwork has been submitted and it is currently waiting for approval from the Premier League. Once they get the green signal, the remaining amount – roughly £283m — will be paid.

This is also a sign that Staveley is confident there will be no hold-ups. However, the potential owners are not celebrating as yet given the volatile nature of previous takeover attempts.

The chances are very high that the change of ownership will take place within the next three to four weeks.

However, Mike Ashley will bank £17m (he will get richer) if the consortium doesn’t pay the remaining balance (which is unlikely) or if the league have some objection to the deal.