Ben Jacobs has dropped a very promising claim on the proposed £300m takeover of Newcastle United by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group.

Writing in a thread on his Twitter page, the sports journalist confirmed that the Saudi Gulf Agency Company (GAC) have admitted that they are 'reviewing' their revoked beIN license, although it has not yet been restored in the KSA.

Jacobs went on to tweet that the fact that the GAC are at least confirming that they are going to relook the license situation is 'very positive' for the prospective deal between Mike Ashley and the KSA consortium even if beIN themselves remain in the dark about what they are planning to do.

He added that the fact that the GAC are talking about 'Gulf solidarity' certainly suggests that there may be some movement in terms of trying to get the bid back on track, although Jacobs claims that while the logical view would be that if beIN returns it may help speed up the takeover process, it could well turn out to be the other way around and the takeover would have to happen first of all.

What is next for the potential Newcastle takeover?

While the potential unbanning of access to beIN for Saudi residents would not directly affect the takeover, it could certainly be a step forward in the right direction according to Jacobs.

It would ease the ongoing tensions between the KSA, Qatar and the Premier League, given the previous illegal streaming of games from the top flight, and may open up a path to reviving the original deal, providing that the KSA's Public Investment Fund (PIF) come back onto the table, which is expected to happen.

In other news, find out what bizarre Ashley claim has been dropped here!