The north-east club are reportedly on the verge of being sold to a Saudi-backed consortium which involves Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for around £300million.

The versatile left back had impressed for Rennes this season before the coronavirus pandemic halted play, helping guide his side to third in Ligue 1 with 10 matches remaining.

Amnesty's UK director Kate Allen wrote a letter saying there were serious questions to address but Masters insisted 'due process' would take place.

beIN Sports shone a light on Saudi Arabia's involvement in the piracy of matches, highlighting the Premier League's unsuccessful attempts to take legal action against satellite provider Arabsat.

The Human Rights Foundation have become the latest campaign group to write to Premier League chief executive Richard Masters condemning the takeover of Newcastle.

Faustino Asprilla has backed Steve Bruce to stay on as Newcastle United boss after the club is taken over by a Saudi consortium, despite links to high profile managers. 

Both bodies have their versions of 'financial fair play' (FFP), with the Premier League limiting owner-subsidised losses to £105million over three years and UEFA limiting three-year losses to £26m.

EXCLUSIVE: BeIN Sports have written to the Premier League urging chief executive Richard Masters to block the £300million deal for Newcastle, citing illegal streaming of matches in Saudi Arabia.

Newcastle United are reportedly prepared to make Mauricio Pochettino one of the best-paid managers in the world, should the impending takeover go through.

Newcastle's Valentino Lazaro has slammed the Premier League and club executives over their plan to introduce blanket 30 per cent cuts to players' wages amid the coronavirus crisis.

It appears that current owner Mike Ashley is edging forever closer to selling the club to a bid led by Amanda Staveley which is backed by the wealth of the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

The Premier League asked the United States government to keep Saudi Arabia on its piracy watch list before beginning checks on Newcastle United's Saudi-led takeover.

First-team players are expected to return to training next week, providing Government's formal review and Premier League shareholders' meeting agree to finish the current campaign.

The £300m deal is awaiting the League's approval but that process is understood to have been held up given the complexity of broadcast piracy allegations against the Saudi state.

Assuming the takeover goes through, Newcastle's spending power would be transformed with former Tottenham manager Pochettino seen as the man to deliver a potential title challenge.

Haseeb Hameed and Joe Root's admirable resistance proved too little too late as England lost the third Test by eight wickets. Here, Sportsmail's Lawrence Booth takes a look at the talking points.

Antonio Conte began life as Inter manager in style, romping to a 4-0 win thanks to goals from Marcelo Brozovic, Antonio Candreva and debut strikes from Stefano Sensi and Romelu Lukaku.

Anderlecht starlet Yari Verschaeren is attracting strong interest from Premier League Southampton after making his senior Belgium debut at the age of just 18.

Former Manchester City defender Omar Elabdellaoui is being lined up for a return to England by a string of Premier League clubs. Leicester and Watford are among the sides monitoring him.

England will step up their preparations for Euro 2020 with a friendly against Denmark next March. The two sides will lock horns on March 31 at Wembley.

BELGIUM 6-1 CYPRUS The away side took a shock lead in the 14th minute through Ioannou before Crystal Palace striker hit back moments later from close range.

Euro 2020 begins on June 12 and teams are frantically searching for opponents to play in the weeks leading up to the tournament but France are finding it particularly difficult.

Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku declared that he has been 'a man on a mission' ever since Belgium's third-placed finish at the 2018 World Cup.

Russian hoaxers telephoned the Prince on two separate occasions earlier this year and duped him into believing he was chatting with environmental activist Greta Thunberg.

Piers Morgan hit out at Prince Harry's comments in leaked telephone recordings that emerged last night from Russian hoaxers who contacted the Duke of Sussex at his luxury Canada hideaway.

In her role as Commodore-in-Chief of the Canadian navy, Princess Anne will Visit HMCS Regina, at sea, boarding in Vancouver and travelling to Esquimalt on Vancouver Island on May 1.

Manny Ranga, 38, along with his wife Violeta Perez, 37, from Vancouver, Canada bought boxes of the wipes from their local Costco only to resell them at upwards of four times what they paid.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle returned to Canada in the nick of time as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada will close its borders to non-citizens on Monday.

Meghan is self-isolating in Canada and is taking steps to protect her family from COVID-19, requiring 'everyone on their team to wear latex gloves at all times and are to follow a strict hygiene protocol'.

Prince Harry, 35, had reached his limit before he and wife Meghan Markle, 38, decided to officially move to Canada, a source said, speaking to US Weekly.

The U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy set sail to LA Monday where the projected number of coronavirus-related hospital beds was five times that of Washington.

A man furiously sprayed anti-bacterial disinfectant on his coffee cup before grabbing from the ledge of a drive-thru window at a Tim Horton fast food restaurant in Canada.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex took a private flight from Vancouver, where they have been staying since stepping down as senior royals, to LA where they are setting up a permanent home.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made a last minute dash across the border from Canada to the US to start their new life in Los Angeles.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are under increasing pressure to pay their own multi-million pound security bill as they prepare to finally cut their working ties with the Royal Family this week.

Prince Charles will be paying a 'private contribution' to the Sussexes US security costs, which are expected to be £2million per year, according to a royal source.

Keelan Charlton, 28, from Somerset, spent months planning his romantic proposal to Elley Bugler, 24, but she told FEMAIL they are now stuck in Australia too scared to book flights home.

Royal fans have launched a campaign to celebrate Archie's first birthday by asking followers of Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan Markle, 38, to donate to charities in Canada, South Africa and America.

Royal fans have raised £11,750 for charities in Canada, America and South Africa in just days as part of a campaign to celebrate Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan Markle's, 38, son Archie's first birthday.

Dr Jane Goodall, 86, told RadioTimes she had 'been in touch' with Prince Harry, 35, since he quit royal duties and moved to Los Angeles with his wife Meghan Markle, 38, and their son Archie.

Two-thirds of severely ill coronavirus patients in the US, Canada, Europe and Japan improved after taking remdesvir, a US-made Ebola drug, while China canceled phase III of it trial

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has suggested that the United States could host the 2022 World Cup if the tournament is taken away from Qatar.

The Deadpool star, 43, had Gossip Girl actress, 32, appear on his Instagram Stories feed as he plugged a T-shirt for Conquer COVID-19 , an emerging charity out of his native Canada.

Malin Akerman braved the grocery store solo, as she purchased some essentials for herself,  husband Jack Donnelly, 33 and son Sebastian Zincone, six, from her first marriage.

A new international clinical trial will examine if colchicine, a drug most often used to treat gout, can can reduce rates of hospitalization and death caused by the novel coronavirus.

Gunman Gabriel Wortman, 51, was shot dead by police after a 12-hour slaughter across the eastern province of Nova Scotia where he killed 16 people.

Mohammed Khan, 22, from Toronto, Canada, says that using Oregon Grape Root serum, which inhibits enzymes involved in psoriatic skin cell production, helped ease his symptoms in weeks.

International pressure was last night building on Beijing following the leak of a bombshell intelligence dossier which accuses China of having lied about the origins of Covid-19.

Prince Harry sold a pair of hunting rifles before leaving the UK for North America, it has been revealed. The news comes after Jane Goodall revealed Harry, who has hunted buffalo, could stop hunting altogether.

Astounding footage shows three skateboarders in Toronto, Canada, riding on an empty expressway performing flips and tricks during the coronavirus lockdown. Police slapped them with a $110 fine.