In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Rob Lee, who made 343 appearances for Newcastle United, is still confident that the proposed takeover of his former club will go through, despite some damning reports emerging this month.

There have been several reports in national titles about Newcastle's takeover, which did not go through over 12 months ago, including one that stated Prince Mohamed bin Salaman asked Boris Johnson to intervene with the Premier League to approve the deal.

Newcastle United and the Premier League are set for an arbitration case later this year, which could help establish whether or not the league was being fair to the new potential owners during their owners and director's tests.

Speaking on why he is staying positive on a potential takeover but also why he questions who is feeding the journalists this sort of information, Lee told FFC:

"Where are these people getting this information? I mean, Mike doesn't tell anyone anything and certainly the people he does tell stuff to, they won't be telling other people. So that worries me a little bit.

"I'm still hopeful that something happens and I hope something's going on behind the scenes that we don't know about, and that they're trying to keep it quiet because of what happened last time."

It has been reported that the government and Premier League were in conversation regarding the takeover and at one point it was thought a decision to pass the deal through was merely hours away.

Mike Ashley will be hoping his decision to stick by Steve Bruce is the right one as relegation would wipe off a significant amount off his valuation of the club.