On-going negotiations between Thompson and FFA have been shrouded in secrecy, and the Tangerines chief signed a non-disclosure agreement last month.

FFA said it was not “in a position to discuss the ownership of the Newcastle Jets", and Thompson could not be contacted by The World Game on Friday.

However, A-League head Damien de Bohun hinted earlier this month that a new owner was close to being unveiled and that the governing body was ‘‘well progressed’’ and confident of having the matter finalised by the time the season kicks off in early October.

‘‘We set ourselves the goal of having this resolved before the start of the season, and that’s very much the target. It’s unfair to talk about who’s in the mix exactly, because previously these sorts of processes can take all sorts of twists and turns," de Bohun said.

Thompson, who has turned the Scottish Premiership club from a financial basket case to one of the few solvent top flight football entities in his homeland, had agreed to buy the club from former owner Nathan Tinkler in May.

However, the fallen mining baron was stripped of his licence as the club convulsed under a cascade of debt.

Thompson has been circling the franchise since December and was last in Australia in June for on a two-week fact finding mission.

Thompson and fellow Tangerines director Mike Martin, a former executive with the global banking group HSBC, held discussions with key stakeholders on the Hunter, and also with FFA chiefs.

Thompson had anticipated snaring the licence for less than the $3.5 million he agreed with Tinkler, who was deposed by the peak body after breaching the terms of his licence by placing the club in voluntary receivership.

But the fact FFA has intervened and steadied a listing ship has upped the asking price.

The governing body has appointed a new coach in Scott Miller, an interim CEO in Northern NSW Football’s David Eland, and ratified the acquisition of several players, which lifts the club's value to around the $4 million mark.

Eland took the reins from his appointee Mitchell Murphy last month, in a final removal of the remnants of the tumultuous Tinkler era.

However, it is thought Thompson will seek to install his own man at the top once the sale is completed.