There's no shortage of ire aimed at Mike Ashley from Newcastle United fans, and much of it is due to his transfer dealings.

The British sportswear tycoon has been in charge on Tyneside since 2007, and the club's supporters are desperate to see him move on.

They may just get their wish as representatives of Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed, chairman of the Bin Zayed Group, claimed on Monday evening to have “agreed terms” for the English Premier League club.

Newcastle have recorded two successive mid-table finishes in the league under the astute guidance of manager Rafa Benitez.

But Ashley has continued to pull the purse strings tight compared to other Premier League clubs, resulting in criticism for a lack of ambition.

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11 worst Newcastle signings

Siem de Jong: The Dutchman was highly regarded after impressing at Ajax and signed a six-year deal when joining for £6m. He was likened to Teddy Sheringham for his awareness, but his time at Newcastle quickly went downhill as a host of injuries restricted him to just 22 Premier League games in three years. AFP Florian Thauvin: Infamously turned up to matches in a tuxedo and bow tie. Cost £15m from Marseille in 2015 but quickly drifted out of the picture and failed to score in the Premier League. The winger has since been one of the best players in France with plenty of goals and has won caps for France. Jean-Paul Pelissier / Reuters Henri Saivet: Was handed a five-year contract and cost £5m from Bordeaux as Newcastle tried to stave off relegation in 2016. He's cost £1m for every Premier League appearance. Has had loan moves away but is still on Newcastle's books. Jean-Pierre Muller / AFP Seydou Doumbia: Prolific at Young Boys and CSKA Moscow and Newcastle needed a striker to help stave off the threat of relegation in 2016. Doumbia however looked anything but the player to save them and made only three substitute appearances after joining on loan. AFP Matz Sels: The first signing under Rafa Benitez in 2016 when he cost £6.5m from Gent. Dropped after nine matches and moved on to Anderlecht on loan and then Strasbourg permanently. Getty Images Sylvain Marveaux (right): Signed a five-year deal on big wages but played only 39 times over three seasons before returning to play in France. AFP Ignacio Nacho Gonzalez: Does any non-Newcastle fan remember him? He came on a loan deal from Valencia in 2008 after manager Kevin Keegan was reportedly "forced" to sign him as a "favour". Made two appearances and went back to Spain. Getty Images Xisco: Having shown glimpses of goalscoring prowess at Deportivo, the Spaniard was signed for £5.7m in September 2008. Nine appearances, one goal and was eventually off the books for good in 2013. The biggest flop of them all given his high wages. AFP Yoshinori Muto: £9.5m for one goal so far. The Japanese arrived from Mainz in Germany last summer and has made little impact. Well down the pecking order. Getty Images Emmanuel Riviere: 26 Premier League appearances, one goal. Was signed on a four-year deal for £6m from Monaco in 2014 and was offloaded to Metz in 2017 where he managed to find the net again. His one goal was a mishit too. EPA Remy Cabella: Signings from the French league were a common theme among Newcastle's transfer policy as they were deemed decent value for money. Cabella however wasn't great value after joining for £8m from Montpellier in 2014. The midfielder played 31 times, scored once and went back to France with Marseille. At least Newcastle recouped £6m. He's done well in France since. Getty Images

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He has been a master of balancing the books when it comes to transfers - and that's no mean feat in this age of ballooning player values.

Examples of his profitable transfer policy include the 2010/11 season when the club spent in the region of £10 million but recouped £35m when Andy Carroll was sold to Liverpool.

In the 2013/14 season, only Loic Remy arrived for a considerable fee (£2m), while Yohan Cabaye was sold for £20m.

Relegation from the Premier League in 2016 saw around £85m brought in from player sales while £55m was reinvested into the squad.

And the minimalist spend trend has continued with the club since back in the Premier League.

The current season saw £53m spent - £20m of which went on club record signing Miguel Almiron, while almost £40m was recouped from the sales of the likes of Alexsandar Mitrovic, Mikel Merino and Chancel Mbemba.

To be fair to Ashley, the club has picked up some fantastic bargains during the past decade, but there's been some horrendous errors in the transfer market too.

See the 11 best and 11 worst transfers in the slideshows above.