Joey Barton has claimed Newcastle will never get to where they want to be while Mike Ashley remains as owner.
The sportswear tycoon put the club up for sale in October after admitting he could not afford to provide manager Rafa Benitez with the finance to implement his vision for the club, only for takeover talks with Amanda Staveley's PCP Capital Partners to collapse last month.
Having allowed the Spaniard to invest heavily in his squad in the wake of relegation, Ashley has made only limited funds available since and the manager was left scratching around for loan signings as the January transfer window drew to a close.