Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is still believed to be waiting for a concrete offer from Saudia Arabia's Public Investment Group.
The Sports Direct magnate remains out of the UK with the Middle East group's £340million package still very much at the proposal stage despite fresh reports.
Like the Magpies, the Premier League have no offered a "no comment" status when approached by Chronicle Live today.
An article in the Telegraph states that the Premier League were informed "several days ago" of a consortium's intention to buy the club with Amanda Staveley, Jamie Reuben, son of David Reuben and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, named as possible directors.
Ashley's stance is believed to be unchanged with the Toon owner still prepared to sell if the right offer is on the table.
The Buckinghamshire tycoon turned down interview requests back in January when the news first broke of PIF's interest.
But club sources stated then that no bid had yet been placed, despite an admission that PIF had been in talks.
On January 31, Steve Bruce claimed that Lee Charnley had told him there was “nothing in it.”
He said then: “At the moment all he’s said is, ‘There’s nothing in it’. Okay, fine, let’s go to work and let’s see where we are.”
Charnley contacted club staff today to notify them that they had been placed on furlough leave amid the virus pandemic.
We understand that the drastic move means staff in all departments have been affected, and a significant number of staff were pointed in the direction of the government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which gives workers 80% of their wages back up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.
