Is the Mike Ashley era coming to an end?Newcastle United’s controversial owner is reportedly in talks to sell the club to the Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund.The Wall Street Journal are reporting that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is considering purchasing the Premier League club for £340 million.Of course, this isn’t the first time that Newcastle have reportedly been on the brink of a takeover.The club’s fans are right to feel sceptical, although the fact the Wall Street Journal are reporting the news means it’s safe to believe the interest is genuine.

The Financial Times - per the Chronicle - are also reporting the story, adding: “The group has earmarked a further £200m for investment in the club.”

This will come as music to the ears of Newcastle’s long-suffering fans, who are desperate to see their club competing at the highest level of English football again.

Steve Bruce has done a decent job this season under the circumstances but Newcastle fans know the possibilities are endless if they can finally replace Ashley with wealthy owners who are prepared to invest significant money in the squad.

Similar reports did the rounds last May when it was claimed that Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour’s cousin, Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nahyan, was poised to complete a £350 million takeover of the north-east outfit.

Those reports led to Newcastle becoming the third favourites to sign Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe. Seriously.

Anyway, fast-forward eight months and Newcastle fans are, once again, getting giddy about the possibility of signing world football’s most talented youngster.

Here are a selection of some of the best tweets…

Liverpool fans have been all over #Mbappe2020 in recent months - but now the Newcastle fans are making that particular hashtag theirs…

As things stand, the bookies do not have Newcastle listed as one of the club’s in contention for Mbappe’s signature this year.

Give it a few more hours, though, and that will surely change.