LONDON • "It's the hope that kills you," goes one of football's oldest cliches. Newcastle fans know that better than most, with the Premier League club mired in mediocrity since Mike Ashley's takeover in 2007.

Fans have long been disillusioned by the founder of British retail goods chain Sports Direct's reluctance to loosen the purse strings at St James' Park, contrary to his early promises to bring the glory days back to Tyneside.

With never-ending protests against his hands-off leadership at a club that boasts one of the largest fan bases in the UK - Newcastle regularly sell out their 52,000-capacity stadium - Ashley officially put the club up for sale back in October 2017.

Since then, there has been plenty of paper talk about a potential takeover, but only the Saudi Arabia-backed consortium has amounted to anything concrete.

The same month Ashley put the Magpies up for sale, talk emerged that a Chinese consortium were keen, but no offer was made.

A month later, British financier Amanda Staveley first attempted to buy Newcastle, but walked away in January after talks hit a snag, with Ashley playing hardball.

In September 2018, it was reported former Manchester United chief executive Peter Kenyon was interested in buying the club, but was told to return with funds, which he never did.

In May last year, British tabloid The Sun said Ashley had agreed to sell to Abu Dhabi billionaire Sheikh Khaled Zayed Al Nehayan, but the £350 million (S$630 million) deal never materialised.

Staveley came back in March, this time with the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, and British property billionaire brothers, David and Simon Reuben, on board. The group announced a proposed takeover for £300 million.

The bid, which was accepted, had a guarantee of £250 million to be spent on the team over the next five years, with millions more to be invested in the local community - a prospect that left Newcastle fans excited.

But last month, the offer collapsed after the consortium declined to take up the Premier League's offer of independent arbitration to decide the club's owner. Staveley slammed the decision as "ridiculous" as "no country has become a director of a club".

Since then, two parties have emerged as possible buyers.

American billionaire Henry Mauriss, who is the chief executive officer of Clear TV, which operates one of the largest TV networks for airports across the US, is said to have lodged a £350 million bid.

On Aug 15, Bellagraph Nova group, which is co-founded by Singapore entrepreneurs Terence Loh and Nelson Loh as well as Chinese national Evangeline Shen, announced it was at "an advanced stage of negotiation" for a £280 million takeover.

Ashley is understood to be not taking these offers seriously, with local daily The Shields Gazette yesterday saying the 55-year-old "only has eyes for a resurrection of the Saudi-financed £300 million deal".

Tyneside newspaper The Chronicle also reported there has been "no advance" on Bellagraph's offer, with Ashley's lawyers, Dentons, opting to blank the group.

British tabloid The Daily Star claimed on Sunday that the owner would soon be issuing an official statement, branding the two would-be-buyers as "time-wasters".

However, the Shields has reported he will "keep his counsel" for now.

During a meeting with the Newcastle United Supporters Trust last week, the Premier League's chief executive, Richard Masters, said the Saudi-backed bid could be revived if the "consortium provides more information, which would be used to consider any potential disqualification of those involved".

It remains to be seen if a compromise can be brokered, but what looks certain is that Newcastle will go into the new season starting on Sept 12 with Ashley still remaining at the helm.