Mike Ashley is negotiating the £350m sale of Newcastle to Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates. The news has produced much excitement on Tyneside but, despite reports in the Gulf it is a done deal, there could still be a considerable distance to be covered.

While Newcastle have privately confirmed talks are continuing, Midhat Kidwai, the managing director of Sheikh Khaled’s organisation, said on Monday night that “terms have been agreed”.

He said: “We can confirm that representatives of Sheikh Khaled are in discussions with Mike Ashley and his team about the proposed acquisition of Newcastle United. We view it as an honour to have the opportunity to build on the strong support, history and tradition of the club. We have agreed terms and are working hard to complete the transaction at the earliest opportunity.”

Although Newcastle were quick to verify the statement’s authenticity, it appears several hurdles remain. There are also caveats. Despite living in Dubai, Sheikh Khaled is a member of the royal family in neighbouring Abu Dhabi, and a cousin of the Manchester City owner, Sheikh Mansour. It has previously been regarded as unlikely that members of the same ruling family would buy rival football clubs.

Sheik Mansour’s buyout of City was conducted amid utmost secrecy and, as a rule of thumb, the takeovers that actually happen tend to be conducted in a similar clandestine manner, so the leaking of details rings alarm bells.

Moreover any new owner at St James’ Park would have to pass the Premier League’s owners’ and directors’ test. Negotiations may or may not have yet reached that stage but the Premier League on Monday adopted Newcastle’s public “no comment” stance.

It was reported last year that Sheikh Khaled was interested in buying Liverpool but the owners did not consider his offer.

His discussions with Newcastle and the club’s possible switch to Middle Eastern control perhaps explains the impasse over Rafael Benítez’s contract extension as manager. He is believed to be on a family break in Spain but his deal runs out on 30 June and he has been in negotiations with Ashley over a new agreement for the past 10 days.

Sheikh Khaled, the founder of the Bin Zayed Group, a collection of national and international businesses operating in assorted fields including construction and energy, is thought to be keen to retain Benítez. He would hope to be in charge in time to furnish the manager with a sizeable summer transfer budget.

Newcastle has been for sale – either overtly or tacitly – for much of Ashley’s 12 year ownership but takeovers by Amanda Staveley and then Peter Kenyon evaporated after entering the due diligence stage.

Ashley has long conceded he cannot afford to fulfil Benítez’s aim of taking Newcastle back into Champions League contention but, despite considerable interest in the club, the billionaire retailer has been surprised by the lack of credible buyers.

Regardless of some nagging doubts, Sheikh Khaled seems to be being taken much more seriously than most. The 61-year-old is the president of the UAE sailing and rowing federation but the Boston University business studies graduate is said to have always been a fan of English football and long harboured ambitions to buy a club.