Newcastle United are set to be taken over by the Belgravia Group, if you believe the newspapers.
A Freddy Shepherd sell out will put him top of the pile ... no other chairman will have made more money fro a club (for putting so little in) in the history of English football.
Sporting Life: "The Jersey-based investment group is preparing a £235million swoop which will involve a lucrative property deal and up to 7,000 jobs.
However, it is understood that no offer is imminent, although the chances of one being put on the table sooner rather than later are increasing all the time".
A spokesman for Belgravia said: "We are still in negotiations, but no formal offer has been made and we do not comment on press speculation."
There have even been suggestions that Shepherd could launch his own takeover after gradually increasing his stake to take him close to the 30 per cent threshold at which he would have to make an offer to the remaining shareholders.
If the total value of the project did amount to £235million, it is understood while that would mean a sizeable dividend for shareholders, it would also include the budget for whatever investment the new owners saw necessary in order to revive the club's fortunes.
Isle of man-based equity fund Northcote (IOM) Ltd - Kapena Fund, bought 1,475,000 shares at 72.8p on Wednesday, costing a total of £1,073,800, but insisted their purchase was not part of a takeover bid.