MIKE Ashley is expected to know the identity of Newcastle United’s new owners by the weekend with a formal public announcement scheduled to be made early next week.

Four different groups began due diligence a fortnight ago and, having analysed the club’s accounts, all will be asked to submit final bids in the next 48 hours.

When those bids have been entered, Seymour Pierce – the bank in charge of the sale process – will make its formal recommendation to Ashley regarding which is the best offer for him to accept.

Once that has been done, the hand-over of power should be relatively swift with Ashley desperate to cut his ties with St James’s Park as quickly as possible and the new owners can get started on rebuilding the club to their design.

Although there have been reports in the national media this week that former chairman Freddie Shepherd has already made a £60m bid which is close to being accepted, The Journal understands this is not the case. While Shepherd is expected to enter a bid this week, he is not thought to be one of the front runners to replace Ashley, particularly as the sport shop magnate is extremely reluctant to do any sort of business with him.

Instead, sources have indicated that the new owners will almost certainly be foreign, with an America-based group believed to be leading the race to complete a takeover of the troubled Championship club in competition with another, South Africa-based, consortium.

Quite where this leaves Alan Shearer’s appointment as manager remains to be seen, although he can be relatively confident he will be in place either before or shortly after the Magpies play their first pre-season friendly – against Shamrock Rovers on July 11.

The Journal revealed last week that the former Magpies skipper is the overwhelming choice to become permanent manager, although the new owners will have to sit down and discuss a plan of action with him once the sale has been completed.