Liam Kennedy has revealed just how close a takeover of Newcastle United was to happening earlier this year.

The Lowdown: Case delays

As per The Chronicle, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) claim over the stalled takeover deal between Mike Ashley and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium has now been delayed until September.

This follows the delay of the separate arbitration claim filed by the North East club against the Premier League over their decision-making process with regards to the failed bid, which is now not due to take place until early next year.

The Latest: New party involved

Writing in his latest piece for Newcastle World, Kennedy has revealed that another party was in talks to buy the St. James' Park faithful back in February.

Investor John Textor, who is the Founder and CEO of Facebank, Inc, had initial talks with Ashley's people over a potential deal which are said to have 'gone well', with a broad agreement reached 'within a week'.

It would see Textor pay £300m in three separate instalments of £100m, which would have seen money raised for further investment in the Tyneside club.

Talks were 'progressing well' on February 3rd, but by the 12th the deal collapsed, and Textor 'walked away' from discussions.

Sources from the Magpies suggest that they feared that he did not have the cash to complete the deal and would struggle to pass the top flight's Owners’ and Directors’ Test (ODT) because of past issues with company bankruptcy.

The Verdict: Shame

It is certainly a shame to hear that yet another takeover attempt bit the dust after looking so promising with the negotiations.

Nonetheless, the Toon will now solely be concentrating on the cases coming up with the KSA group, with the aim of winning them and getting their bid back on track.

However, they will now have to wait until early next year for the arbitration hearing, meaning that they have gone into yet another season of uncertainty under the misguided leadership of Ashley.

In other news, find out who is still pursuing a move for this 'excellent' NUFC ace here!