Journalist provides hope for NUFC fans on the takeover front - Interest from overseas?

During a recent piece for The Chronicle, Mark Douglas has admitted that there is now a 'renewed buzz' that big money investors are looking at the Premier League market once again - giving Newcastle fans hope when it comes to a much needed takeover.

As we all know, Amanda Staveley has been the only major player to emerge since the club was put up for sale officially last year, however The Chronicle have suggested that interest from South Korea has been touted.

The piece insists that Staveley 'remains interested' in buying the club, but only at the price she deems it to be worth following a thorough period of due diligence - meaning she looks very unlikely to pay Ashley's £400m asking price as things stand.

That being said, all hope of a sale is not lost, with suggestions here that there's a new 'buzz' around when it comes to potential investors purchasing a Premier League club, with the big new TV deals seeming an attractive prospect:

"Takeover talk has gone deathly quiet at Newcastle United - but the buzz in Premier League circles is that big money investors are once again looking at the market.

"There is a renewed buzz about investing in Premier League clubs again.

"Putting it down to a TV deal which has held relatively firm and the potential for global growth, the source we spoke to said that British, American and Asian interest in clubs meant there was a prospect of a big takeover or investment in the Premier League in the next few months.

"Newcastle have had no new bids in months themselves and the £400million asking price seems to be putting off interested parties. But Mike Ashley insists privately and publicly that he wants to sell and the situation in the wider Premier League is worth looking at.

"Staveley remains interested in Newcastle and maintains a watching brief but doesn’t have access to funds to pay the £400million Ashley wants and invest in the club. Her extensive due diligence – which included talking to the Council and even the Newcastle Falcons to see how better those two clubs could work together – came up with a valuation which she is sticking to.

"There has also been some talk of South Korean interest in investing in Newcastle, although – again – it has not been possible to verify that independently."

Do you think there's any chance of new investors coming in and ousting Ashley between now and next summer?

It feels unlikely to me (unless Ashley reduces his asking price), but it may be essential if we want to keep Rafa Benitez.

Fingers crossed.