The proposed £300m takeover of Newcastle United by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium has been dealt a big blow as the Premier League have agreed to extend its Middle East/North Africa deal with beIN Sports to cover the period of 2022 to 2025.

That is according to The New York Times journalist Tariq Panja, who went on to tweet that the deal is worth $500m (£367.3m) over the three years, which is the same as their current contract.

Panja also said that there was "no sign of a Saudi bidder", given the past disputes over piracy in the KSA and the illegal streaming of games in the English top flight through Saudi broadcaster beoutQ.

The extended deal has come as a "major boost" to England's highest division given the added revenue that they will generate, but it does also mean that fans in the KSA will continue to have to rely on illegal streams to watch matches in the EPL amid the ongoing ban of Qatari broadcaster beIN in the Gulf country.

Newcastle takeover dealt big blow

The prospective deal between Mike Ashley and the KSA group has now suffered a big blow considering the conflicts between the league and the KSA as a result of the controversies to do with piracy.

The fact that supporters in the Kingdom would not be able to watch games involving the St. James' Park faithful legally as well is an added problem that may not be able to be resolved if the bid were to be pushed through.

In other news, find out which Magpie has been tipped for a new deal here!