Newcastle United's owners, the Public Investment Fund, remain firmly committed to the project at St James' Park. That comes despite speculation from the Middle East indicating that Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund could be considering offloading the Magpies.
PIF's senior figures have not attended a Newcastle fixture since the Champions League encounter against Paris Saint-Germain in January, when their chairman, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, was in attendance at the Parc des Princes. However, there has been daily dialogue between PIF and the Newcastle board, with officials from Riyadh allowing chief executive David Hopkinson and sporting director Ross Wilson to handle matters on Tyneside.
As the Express' sister publication in the north-east, the Chronicle, revealed on Monday morning, PIF chiefs will not rush into any decisions concerning Eddie Howe, as they plan to undertake an end-of-season performance assessment, when the complete outcomes of the campaign, both on and off the field, will be examined at that stage.
Currently, the strategy is to allow Hopkinson, Wilson and Howe to demonstrate their capabilities in the summer transfer window. Nevertheless, Saudi officials are aware of dissatisfaction amongst the supporter base after their 2-1 loss to Sunderland, which leaves them 12th in the Premier League standings, and the subsequent events at St James' Park have not escaped their attention.
Rumours that Newcastle are up for sale began circulating after a blog post by Richard Keys. On Monday, he stated: "Another whisper I picked up recently - and I don't think this will come as a surprise to anybody - I'm told the Saudis are looking to sell Newcastle. Regulars know I've been saying for some time the project was over. Apparently, there are interested parties, but the Saudis want £1b. £500m is nearer the mark."
However, the Chronicle has reported that the PIF have no intention of selling their stake in the Tyneside club, despite potential interest from other parties. With discussions of a sale now dismissed, attention turns to planning for the upcoming season and beyond, when Newcastle are eager to reveal a new training ground, and £1 million has been set aside for enhancements at St James' Park this summer.
Hopkinson has kept quiet publicly since the disappointing Tyne-Wear derby defeat; however, Howe continues to receive backing within the club.
When questioned about the long-term vision back in December, Hopkinson responded: "By 2030, I see this club being in the debate about being the top club in the world. That kind of progress doesn't take as long as you might think. What it takes is clarity of conviction. Can Newcastle win the Premier League? Yeah, of course. Why not?
"Our job is to set ourselves up as perennial contenders. We have to have the courage to ignore those that doubt us and even those that laugh at us."