Lawyer Nick De Marco was part of the legal team that notched up a significant victory on behalf of Sheffield Wednesday - raising the hopes of Newcastle fans who see legal action as the best possible resolution for the stalled Saudi takeover.
De Marco has been instructed by lawyers acting on behalf of Newcastle owner Mike Ashley to look at the Premier League's conduct around the takeover process after the Magpies' tycoon cried foul in September.
That's a seperate legal action to the one being led by a fans group which has captured attention - although De Marco appeared to tweet support for the proposed action last week.
De Marco, hailed as the Lionel Messi of sports law, was part of the team that appealed to the EFL arbitration panel on behalf of Sheffield Wednesday over their 12 point penalty, imposed for breaching spending regulations.
It was knocked down to six points on Wednesday. "Delighted to have assisted Sheffield Wednesday in this case. I hope one day to be able to write about the decisions but won’t comment further now until the reasons are published. Good luck for the rest of the season," he wrote on Twitter.
Last month the Chronicle's profile of De Marco included quotes from those who had worked with him
Despina Mavromati, who is an attorney at SportLegis Lausanne and previously served as managing counsel at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, told us: "When he is working on a case, he gives 200% of himself to his case and, when he is up to something else, he is there, present and in the moment. He's authentic. He has that style that is not too much in order to have positive results in a dispute."
The Owls would attest to that, now Newcastle fans will hope there will be movement on their case.
