American businessman and CEO of US TV company Clear TV Henry Mauriss has tabled a £350 million bid to buy Newcastle United, and is waiting and prepared to move quickly should the proposed Saudi Arabian takeover led by Amanda Staveley fall through.

Magpies owner Mike Ashley is ready to sell the St. James’ Park outfit after agreeing a £300 million deal with the Public Investment Fund and already receiving a nonrefundable £17 million deposit, and he will most likely be keen to do business with the American should be Premier League knock back the Saudis’ bid.

The Athletic’s George Caulkin believes Mauriss has made a mistake by going public with his Newcastle bid, though, as the same approach hasn’t worked for PIF.

Playing it out in public hasn’t worked for the Saudi bid!

— George Caulkin (@GeorgeCaulkin) June 17, 2020

No, having a £300m bid for the club accepted by Ashley and signing contracts got them to the Owners’ & Directors’ Test – the rest of it is just noise.

— George Caulkin (@GeorgeCaulkin) June 17, 2020

The Saudi bid has gotten complicated following the World Trade Organization’s report that the Kingdom was behind beoutQ, while their human rights record hasn’t done them any good.

Mauriss’ legal team claims he could complete a fit and proper persons test in less than three weeks, and it’ll be interesting to see how the Newcastle takeover saga unfolds.

According to the Mirror, the bid by the American is believed to have been brokered by Chris Ronnie, a disgraced close associate of Ashley who was jailed for four years in December 2014 for a £1million fraud while head of now-defunct sportswear company JJB Sports.

Ronnie has a long association with the current Magpies owner and is thought to have brought the bid to the table in January, although he would have no involvement beyond that if a deal was reached.