Newcastle weighing up ´serious´ offers

Newcastle United are weighing up “two very serious” offers, the man handling the sale of the Premier League club said here on Monday.

“We have two very serious contenders to buy it,” Keith Harris, chairman of investment bank Seymour Pierce told the FT Sport Industry Summit in London.

Owner Mike Ashley put the club up for Sale in November after becoming a hate figure for Newcastle fans angry at his role in the departure of popular manager Kevin Keegan from St James' Park.

The businessman, who made his fortune by creating the Sports Direct chain of stores, was said to be asking 250 million pounds (398 million dollars) for a club he bought for more than 134 million pounds (213 million dollars) in May 2007.

Harris refused to reveal the identities of the latest bidders but said he expected a sale to be completed by the end of this year or in early January at the latest.

“We have had Nigerians that don't exist, and South Africans told by the media they were bidding,” Harris added.

“The truth of the matter is that the phone has rung several times, frequently because I have made the calls – but they have reacted to them.

“It is not easy doing anything in this world whether it's selling a football club or anything else, but it will come through.”

Newcastle's on-field fortunes have improved recently under interim manager Joe Kinnear and Monday's 2-0 home win over Aston Villa at St James' Park took the north-east club off the bottom of the table and out of the relegation zone.