Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is still waiting for a concrete offer from the Saudi Arabian Investment Fund who have expressed an interest in taking the club off his hands.
Ashley did not attend United's dire 0-0 draw with Norwich City but sent close aide Justin Barnes and club PR man Keith Bishop to St James' Park on Saturday afternoon.
It's now over a week since the Wall Street Journal leaked Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Amanda Staveley's joint interest in buying the Magpies.
But sources close to the Toon owner feel that the ball is very much in the court of Staveley's group after a week of radio silence.
Ashley is yet to come forward and pull the plug on the deal, but he feels the emphasis is on the wannabe owners to make their move.
Sunday morning headlines in the Mirror report that Prince Mohammed bin Salman also has an interest in buying Man United from the Glazers with the atmosphere at Old Trafford extremely toxic at the moment as the Red Devils struggle to keep pace with the Premier League's big guns.
With two other groups said to have shown their interest in buying Newcastle, it has also emerged in the Sunday papers, again via the Mirror, that Ashley wants a non returnable bond of £250,000 from groups who wish to do due diligence.
Newcastle have refused to say anything other than "no comment" throughout the latest episode surrounding takeover talk at St James' Park.
But the club insist that Ashley still has the club on the market, despite a string of frustrating takeover links in the last two years.
