With every passing week, the delay in the Newcastle United takeover process is creating confusion as more information is coming out in the media.

Despite agreeing a £300m deal back in April with Mike Ashley, the potential new owners are yet to get the green signal from the Premier League.

The would-be new owners are pretty relaxed about the situation, but even they didn’t imagine that it would still be an ongoing process while the Premier League is set for a restart.

The potential new owners – the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, Reuben Brothers and PCP Capital Partners – have already paid a part-payment in the region of £17m which is non-refundable.

According to reports from Tariq Panja of The New York Times, Ali Jassim, a close business associate of the billionaire who owns Manchester City, is serving as a broker in the Saudi Arabia consortium’s attempt to by Newcastle United.

Mohammed bin Salman is in talks to become the majority owner of Newcastle.

The report claims that Jassim would join forces with Amanda Staveley, a British investment adviser he met while working on the purchase of Manchester City by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

Carla DiBello, a socialite friend of Kim Kardashian West, has developed a close relationship with the Public Investment Fund’s governor, Yasir al-Rumayyan while Staveley is responsible for negotiating with Ashley.

“U are very dear to me,” Jassim wrote to Staveley in a message, before adding, “We have a fruitful future together.”

Staveley played a key role in City’s sale to its Emirati owners, but it remains unclear what exact role Jassim is playing here.