Philip Hammond has emerged as a potentially key man in getting the proposed takeover of Newcastle United over the line, according to The New European.

As per the outlet, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer is being lined up by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to try and help them get the prospective £300 million deal between Mike Ashley and the KSA group approved by the Premier League.

Hammond was apparently in Riyadh just days before resigning and indeed before Boris Johnson became the prime minister of the United Kingdom.

His advisers briefed that he had been pressing the Saudis to stop the illegal broadcasting of live pirated sports events on the satellite TV channel beoutQ, which was found to be associated with the KSA after a report that was released by the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The Qataris had accused the country of this as beIN Sports, a Qatar-based broadcaster, had the sole rights to show such live events in the Middle East, which included the illegal streaming of games that the Magpies were involved in and indeed from the English top flight in general.

Nevertheless, Hammond may well be hired as almost a middle man in negotiations between England's highest division and the KSA in terms of trying to push through the takeover as the end of the 2019/20 season and thus the start of the upcoming summer transfer window fast approaches.

However, everything is all speculation up until this point in time and nothing will become clearer until an official announcement is made by the league.

Geordies, are you worried that the takeover may fall through? Comment below!