Lee Ryder has dropped some promising insight from close sources on the Newcastle United takeover consortium.
Writing in his latest piece for The Chronicle, the football journalist has shared that sources close to the proposed deal between Mike Ashley and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group have said that the consortium are still 'interested' in coming back to the table if the St. James' Park faithful were to win their pending arbitration case against the Premier League.
Perhaps just as crucially, he also shared that takeover sources expect the legal battle to start in the summer but whether new owners would be in place by the start of pre-season is 'unclear' at the moment, which could of course throw a spanner in any transfer plans for the summer window.
Newcastle takeover hope?
If the North East club can find a positive result in their arbitration hearing against the top flight, then it certainly gives hope that the potential takeover bid can still be revived after Ryder's update.
It would clear a pathway for the KSA's Public Investment Fund (PIF) to come back to the table and then the process could be sped up, and fans would be praying it goes fast enough to give the potential new owners a chance to operate in the transfer market.
Of course, there is also that fear that if this drags on and the takeover is not completed, Ashley will have had the perfect excuse to avoid spending money all summer.
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With the legal battle expected to start this summer, it is not clear how long it would be expected to last, but one thing for sure is that the Toon Army still have something to cling on to in terms of the takeover potentially being resurrected in the future.