Newcastle United are almost certain to become the latest Premier League club to fall into the hands of foreign owners, according to Keith Harris, the man charged with finding a buyer for the Tyneside outfit. The Seymour Pierce chairman was contacted by Mike Ashley to broker a deal to sell the Magpies, for a figure in the region of £300m, after he put the club on the market last month.

"I think it is certainly likely that the next owner of Newcastle will come away from these shores," said Harris, who confirmed seven parties are still under consideration as prospective buyers, although none of those is from South Africa.

Harris was, however, reluctant to reveal the identity or location of the interested parties but claimed much of the money and desire to buy into English football is focused in the Middle or Far East, or the USA. "Whether it is the Middle East is another matter," he added. "But it is a reasonable assumption to say the new owner will not be from Britain. We have had now, for seven or eight days, seven interested parties.

"They are not from these shores, and that is not surprising. Within that group, we have taken the chance to start honing down the list – so far nobody has dropped out."

Harris said there is no indication yet from any party that Kevin Keegan's return to the club is central to their plans. "Nobody has said to us that is a condition for us to go forward," Harris said. "Nobody has said, as a pre-condition, it is this manager or that manager."