Club reporter confirms Mike Ashley's plan to share public 'takeover update'

According to the Chronicle, Mike Ashley is due to release an update this week on a potential takeover at Newcastle United, with hope of Peter Kenyon succeeding with a bid to buy the club continuing to fade.

We have of course been here before - we all remember the interview just six weeks ago on Sky news where Ashley said a deal was 'close' - yet we appear no further forward.

Here's how the Chronicle's Lee Ryder has responded to the Sunday Sun's claims that Ashley will come out with a public takeover update:

Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is expected to clarify where the club stand with Peter Kenyon in due course.

The Toon owner afforded Kenyon extra time to get his finances in order but a fresh bid for the club hasn’t been forthcoming during the transfer window.

Ashley, after much persuasion, sanctioned the funds to bring in Miguel Almiron and the loan fee and wages for Antonio Barreca on deadline day.

It’s now 13 months since Ashley indicated that he’d pulled out of talks with Amanda Staveley and PCP Capital Partners when he dismissed the discussions as a waste of time. 

Now, sources close to Ashley have told the Sunday Sun that he will provide an update on where the deal with Kenyon’s US consortium currently lies.

Like most fans I imagine, I'm not holding my breath for a positive update this week; we are still in a survival battle which makes a sale almost impossible until the summer. Signing Almiron has raised morale but we still just about break even for the last two transfer windows combined - transfer record broken or not, make no mistake - Ashley is doing the bare minimum as always.

Public updates from Ashley also have lost credibility - the club has been 'up for sale' on least four occasions now during his twelve year tenure and we all remember his infamous interview in May 2015 where he stated he wasn't leaving until he won something; only for the club to back up for sale months later.

It is hard to shake the feeling that these sporadic public updates from Ashley are little more than a PR exercise or attempt to appease recent fan pressure - let's hope we can secure survival and force Ashley out once and for all this summer.