In what appears to be the never-ending saga of Newcastle United and their potential takeover, the Reuben Brothers, who only wanted a 10% stake in the club, would be brilliant for the Magpies, according to former defender Steve Howey.

They already own several properties in Newcastle as well as the horse racing track, so are already familiar with the area and after their wealth reportedly increased by over £5 billion in the last 12 months, fans questioned why they didn't buy the club outright themselves?

Mike Ashley also did not fare too badly on the Sunday Times' UK rich list which was released last week, as he saw his wealth increase by a staggering £769 million, despite most of the high street being hit very hard during the COVID pandemic.

Whoever eventually gets handed the keys from Mike Ashley will have to run the club properly and invest sufficiently. Those are the thoughts of Howey, who spoke exclusively to Football FanCast:

"If the Reuben Brothers bought the club, then brilliant, as long as they invest and look after the club. That's the same for PIF because ultimately, they might own it on paper, but it's not their club.

"Basically, owners are just custodians, looking after the club. Football clubs belong to the fans, even though they don't own it. So any owners that come in, you just want them to look after the club as best as they possibly can."

Despite being in a relegation battle for the second half of the season, Steve Bruce managed to guide the Magpies to an impressive 12th place finish, the highest they have finished since the 2017/18 season when they finished 10th.

All the talk on Tyneside is for once, not about relegation or the takeover, but more focussed on what the club do with Joe Willock in the summer with fans and Bruce eager to bring the Arsenal youngster back to Tyneside for next season after his impressive eight goals in 14 appearances.