Ben Jacobs has dropped a promising claim on the potential takeover of Newcastle United after news emerged involving the Premier League.

The Lowdown: KSA off watchlist

As per PA journalist Jamie Gardner, the English top flight have left the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) off of its submission for the US government's piracy watch list for 2021.

UEFA and La Liga did include the KSA in their submissions, but given that the PL did not, Mike Ashley's camp are thought to be left encouraged by the news.

The Latest: Jacobs reacts

Jacobs, who has been following the whole takeover saga closely, has since given his reaction to the news, claiming that it is 'encouraging' for the proposed deal between Ashley and the KSA group.

He also claimed that the January submission 'could be viewed as a softened stance', providing further encouragement for the arbitration case and potential revival of the original bid.

The Verdict: Encouraging for takeover

Given the disputes between the Premier League and the KSA over piracy, in which the latter illegally streamed games from the top flight and made them available to be watched in the Gulf country, this piece of news is certainly encouraging.

As Jacobs points out, it suggests that their stance has been softened, and thus they may be willing to cooperate with the KSA consortium if arbitration goes in the favour of the St. James' Park faithful.

Nonetheless, the arbitration case should give a much clearer view over the direction of where the takeover may be heading, but the Toon Army will certainly now hold more hope that a deal is still possible.

In other news, find out what promising takeover insight has been shared involving Rafa Benitez here!