Newcastle Takeover 'Close' as Mike Ashley Mulls Over Amanda Staveley's New £300m Offer

Newcastle United could finally be set to welcome Amanda Staveley as the club's new owner after reports claimed a deal to buy the Magpies was "close" to completion.

Sky Sports understands that an agreement is on the cusp of being reached between Ms Staveley and Newcastle's current owner, Mike Ashley, with the latter said to be ready to accept a reported £300m bid to part with the North East side.

Staveley and Ashley have been locked in talks for weeks over the sale of Newcastle to the former's firm - PCP Capital Partners - and Newcastle fans will be desperate to see the purchase given official confirmation in the coming days.

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Magpies supporters have spent the past few seasons calling for Ashley to leave St James' Park over his running of the club, and the Sports Direct founder finally put the club up for sale in October.

Staveley, who has seen a £250m offer already rejected by Ashley, held face-to-face talks with the businessman in London earlier in December to try and thrash out a deal.

Those discussions appear to have helped make a breakthrough in negotiations, and Staveley could soon be the next incumbent of Newcastle United if Ashley accepts her revised bid.

Newcastle fans had hoped that an acquisition of the club by PCP would be done in time for Christmas and that manager Rafael Benitez would be handed a significant transfer warchest to bolster his first-team squad in the winter window.

Those plans are now obviously on a knife edge as Ashley mulls over Staveley's new offer, but claims made by the British media suggest that Ashley will pay for any transfers in January and be reimbursed by Staveley once the takeover is completed.

It also remains to be seen if the entrepreneur has used her contacts in the Middle East to help fund the venture. Staveley was alleged to have asked financial backers in Dubai and Saudi Arabia about potentially helping her stump up the cash necessary to take over at Newcastle, and word on that possible involvement will not likely be known until the takeover is ratified in due course.