Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is awaiting a follow-up bid from PCP Capital Partners after rebuffing its initial offer for the club.

It emerged on Monday evening that one of the parties interested in buying Newcastle, understood to be the PCP group fronted by Amanda Staveley, had tabled a formal offer after spending weeks trawling through its finances.

Reports suggested the deal on the table amounted to around £300million, a figure which would give Ashley a modest return on the £134.4.million he paid for the club and the £129million he has since made available in interest-free loans.

(Image: Clive Rose)

However, Press Association Sport understands the offer was closer to £280million, and much of that was dependent upon a series of future performance-based clauses.

It is also understood it included a relegation clause which stipulated a repayment should the club drop out if the Premier League once again.

That simply does not meet Ashley's requirements with the sportswear magnate looking for an agreed figure, although he has made it clear from the outset that he will accept payment in instalments.

There was some disquiet on Tyneside that news of the bid had leaked out with a series of prospective buyers, among them PCP, having signed non-disclosure agreements with the club and there is a desire for the negotiations not to be played out in public.

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Staveley, who helped broker the takeover of Manchester City in 2008, was never likely to declare her hand first time out and it seems likely that an improved offer will be made in due course.

It remains to be seen whether or not any of the other potential purchasers will be prompted to move now that the first shot has been fired.

(Image: PA)

The Sports Direct owner officially put the club up for sale in October and said he wanted to be out of St James' Park by Christmas.

Following weeks of speculation, Amanda Staveley and PCP Capital Partners came in with a bid, reports Chronicle Live.

The lower offer for the club is understood to be because of the club’s ongoing HMRC investigation which could potentially lead to some severe financial penalties further down the line.

That investigation - Operation Loom - resulted in St James’ Park and the club’s Benton base being raided by HMRC officers last May.

Shortly after confirmation of a bid went in, the initial response from sources close to Newcastle United was that £300million was short of what Ashley is demanding for the Magpies.

As the news broke last night, fans celebrated wildly and urged Ashley to take his chance of a respectable ending to his time at St James’ Park.

(Image: Getty)

With the club in a solid Premier League position, and United making it clear to Rafa Benitez they won’t be spending big in January, Ashley could now walk away during one of the calmest periods of his tenure on Tyneside.

Ashley has been under immense pressure to sell in the past on Tyneside but there have been no protests of late and there is no ugly feeling between the supporters and the Sports Direct magnate.

If a bid can be accepted Staveley’s group will hope to enter the period of exclusivity and gain control.

As expected after the opening offer from Staveley, the two parties did not agree a price in round one of the negotiations but the last 24 hours have not only made PCP’s intentions crystal clear, but have also raised hopes that a deal could indeed be thrashed out by Christmas.