Newcastle United could be set for another '12 months of purgatory' if the club's arbitration against the Premier League isn't successful.
Current owner Mike Ashley has instructed a legal team to take on the Premier League regarding the Saudi-led Toon takeover with the hearing set to take place in July.
The hearing will take behind closed doors and while there is reported positivity from Ashley and those close to him, that the takeover may go ahead as early as July given a legal victory, there's no guarantee of such a result.
Speaking on The Everything is Black and White Podcast, Chronicle Live's Football Editor Mark Douglas shared his fear that a defeat in the arbitration case may see the subsequent anti-competition legal battle drag on until 2022.
LISTEN TO MARK DOUGLAS' END OF SEASON REVIEW
"The problem is, the positive vibes we've been getting off people [close to it] for so long have been just that - positive vibes - and whether that means there will be a change, I don't know.
"It's in the interest of a lot of people that this deal goes through - and it's in their interest that this thing keeps ticking along.
"What slightly worries me now, is that if arbitration doesn't work out then we know the next legal thing to come - this Court of Arbitration for Sport.
"That is going to be a long term case, and judging by what the legal experts tell us is that it could stretch into 2022 and that would be another year in purgatory.
"At that point, you want a resolution - you either say let's go and find someone else to buy it or you take it off the market and Ashley acts as a proper owner.
"I don't think that is what he is going to do, he will see it as 'I will keep going and try to get to the point the Saudis take over because he believes that is the right deal for Newcastle' but we now know that is such a high stakes game."
