Newcastle future in doubt as Ashley 'offers club to Dubai group for £300m'

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The link with the Middle East consortium who have frequently been seen as Liverpool's suitors emerged after it was reported that a Tyneside-based group of businessmen were putting together a £250m takeover bid and they want former club captain Alan Shearer on board.

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Ashley: looking to recoup his investment with a £300m sale

Ashley bought the Tyneside club last summer for £130m and took on debts estimated at £100m.

After the Toon public turned against former manager Sam Allardyce over what they saw as his negative style of football, Ashley brought back former Tyneside hero Kevin Keegan as manager and installed Dennis Wise as a glorified scouting director.

The honeymoon was brief, as Newcastle have taken only two points out of the last 18 in the Premier League and been knocked out of the FA Cup by Arsenal.

If Ashley now wants to effect a quick sale of the club to recoup his assets, he may have to reduce his asking price. DIC, who are determined to buy Liverpool, are thought to have rebuffed his £300m offer, while the Tyneside group seem unwilling to go above £250m.

"Alan has been contacted by a group who want to try to buy Newcastle," a source close to the Tyneside consortium said yesterday.

"They're from the North East. What they want from Alan is not his money but his support, his blessing."

Over the weekend Ashley and club chairman Chris Mort were the subject of a thinly veiled attack from Allardyce.

"Huge businessmen, multimillionaires in their own right, very clever men, but never been shouted at," Allardyce said.

"They can't stand the pressure, their knees buckle, they don't stand strong and they use the easy option to take the pressure off themselves. They have to be the strongest ones and often they're the weakest ones."