Harris: Quick sale or wait for Magpies

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Keith Harris, the man charged with the task of finding a buyer by current owner Mike Ashley, has confirmed his suspicion that the current economic climate and impending transfer window mean a sale may not go through until well into the new year.

Harris, chairman of investment bank Seymour Pierce, told BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek show: "What I have said in the past is, if you put yourself in the position of a prospective owner of Newcastle or any other football club, you want to be there and have had a chance to work with the manager to decide on what should happen to the playing staff, both coming out and going in."

He added: "If that isn't the case, you probably want to wait and see how the activity was in January, so you would defer it until February.

"We are nudging now towards mid-November and unless it is going to happen in the next couple of weeks, maybe three weeks, it is probably likely to be deferred until after the close of the window, when also people have got some hopes that the financial chaos will have settled down a little.

"It's my gut feeling, but it is no more than gut. I have got nothing tangible to base it on other than that instinct.

"I don't think there is anything negative in that, it is force of circumstances."

Ashley engaged Harris' services in September amid a popular revolt over manager Kevin Keegan's departure.