Frank McAvennie has been left fuming at what he has now heard from Newcastle United's recent takeover case.

The Lowdown: Newcastle threatened

As cited by The Daily Telegraph, the St. James' Park faithful were threatened with expulsion from the Premier League during the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) hearing on Wednesday.

This is one of two legal battles Mike Ashley is fighting the top flight over, as the separate arbitration case between the two parties over the stalled takeover deal with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium is now set to take place on January 3rd.

The Latest: McAvennie on threat

Speaking to Football Insider, former Celtic and West Ham United striker McAvennie, 61, has now expressed his fume at the division after hearing about their threat to the North East club:

“It’s ridiculous they would say that.

“Why would they clamp down that hard on that? They can’t just kick clubs out of the league. They can’t do that.

“I’m sure they can threaten it but there is so much legality in kicking someone out. I don’t know if they can.

“I’m glad it sounds like this will all be done soon because the Newcastle fans need answers.

“We need to know what happened and why this has taken so long. It’s a disgrace from the Premier League.”

The Verdict: Pressure mounting

For the Premier League to threaten the Tyneside outfit with expulsion suggests that the pressure is now mounting on them as the takeover saga develops.

It is a threat that was and is certainly not needed going into the arbitration process next year, as the two parties need to come to an agreement over the direction of where the bid is likely to be heading.

Nonetheless, if the top flight were to go through with their threat, then there would no doubt be yet another legal battle brewing between them and the Magpies, as tensions are seemingly never going to stop rising.

In other news, find out what 'positive news' on arbitration emerged here!