A journalist has dropped a claim on the potential takeover of Newcastle United involving the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's (KSA) Public Investment Fund (PIF).

The Lowdown: Independent regulator needed?

Writing in his latest piece for The Times, Henry Winter has argued that an independent regulator is needed in football given the ongoing takeover saga.

He claims that the Premier League is 'not fit to govern itself', and that a neutral judge is needed on sensitive and complicated issues.

The Latest: Delaney on independent regulator

The Independent journalist Miguel Delaney has now claimed that a Premier League independent regulator 'would likely' rule that PIF is the KSA state.

A key component of the top flight's Owners' and Directors' Test (ODT) with regards to the takeover is whether it can be shown that PIF is a separate entity from the Saudi state, and if separation cannot be proved, then the deal would ultimately collapse.

The Verdict: Debatable

It is certainly debatable on both sides whether PIF and the state are separate, and the buying side are trying to show that this is the case.

The arbitration case next year between Mike Ashley and the Premier League should resolve this issue, and thus give an idea over the direction in where the bid is heading.

Nonetheless, the whole takeover saga has dragged on for way too long now, and an independent regulator may help in coming to a swifter conclusion.

In other news, find out who is fuming with what he has heard about the takeover here!