Steve Bruce admits talk of a takeover at Newcastle United is an 'ongoing saga' but the Magpies' head coach has no plans to speak to his players about it because they cannot let it affect them.
Peter Kenyon has been attempting to raise the funds required to buy the Magpies for more than a year now and the former Manchester United and Chelsea chief executive is leading a new consortium with GACP Sports.
A 46-page brochure detailing the group's plans was sent to potential investors earlier this summer and was leaked to the press on Thursday night.
Bruce knows Kenyon and was previously on Wolves' radar when FOSUN International, who have links with the former Umbro chief, were looking to appoint a new manager after completing a takeover in 2016.
But Bruce insists the first he heard of fresh takeover interest was on Friday morning and his sole focus is preparing his players for a trip to Leicester City on Sunday.
“It’s an ongoing saga, isn’t it? Until its bona fide. I think people are saying, 'Here we go again,'" he told reporters. "It’s not going to influence me. I can’t influence that. The only thing I can influence is hopefully we can play better than we did last Saturday.”
Newcastle have been back up for sale for nearly two years and Ashley believed he was closer than ever to selling the club back in December after Kenyon convinced him a takeover was going to be completed.
Ashley later admitted in an interview with the Daily Mail that he regretted making that statement and warned the 'reality is with these deals that once it gets out, if it's not done, it's probably not going to get done.'
Bruce is working under the assumption that Ashley will remain the club's owner until he is told otherwise and has not sought clarity from managing director Lee Charnley.
“I’m perfectly fine with it. It’s fair to say Lee Charnley runs the club on a day-to-day basis. We have regular contact and that’s every day," he said.
"Twice a day, I speak to him and that’s the way it was going to be. That’s the way it is. I’m fine with it. The club’s run fantastically well through Lee and that’s who I speak with.”
A takeover saga playing out in public on Tyneside is nothing new as we have already seen with Amanda Staveley and PCP Partners and Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehayan and the Bin Zayed Group.
Last year, skipper Jamaal Lascelles admitted the uncertainty 'probably will have an effect on some individuals' but Bruce has not felt the need to speak to his players about it 'until it is decided' because it 'cannot be any influence to us'.
“All the players are professionals. I’m sure they’ve heard it all before," he added. "If they’ve been here four three or four years like Jamaal, they’ve probably seen it how many times? Five? Six? Twice a season for the last five years? It’s common knowledge that the club’s up for sale."
