We have been here before. But not quite like this. Now, things are markedly different to what has come previous.

Mike Ashley is not only willing to sell Newcastle United, he is now publicly seeking a buyer.

Speculation has been rife for the best parts of six months now that the Sports Direct magnate wanted out of St James’ Park. As we and many other publications have long reported, he has been itching to offload United to an interested party.

Now we have an official confirmation of such. In fact, Ashley’s lawyer, Andrew Henderson, confirmed to Sky Sports that there is real hope and belief that the club could have a new custodian by Christmas.

Should that turn out to be true then that can only be excellent news for Ashley himself, United manager Rafa Benitez and, most importantly, Newcastle supporters.

Mike Ashley
Mike Ashley

But we must remain sceptical for now. Remember, this Ashley brought his trusted lieutenant Justin Barnes into the club almost a year ago to facilitate a sale, while the club has unofficially been on the market for more than four months and the asking price has reportedly been slashed.

Yet still Ashley endures - albeit against his will.

In some ways, this statement hardly ground-breaking news. It is not exactly enlightening, seeing as it had already been an open secret ever since Ashley first made it clear he would welcome offers just about as soon as Kevin Keegan walked out in 2008.

But this United statement does not read so much as merely a bulletin notifying any potentially-interest parties that the club could be available. It reads very much as a come-and-buy-this-club plea given his failed attempts to offload it on the quiet.

St James’ Holdings Limited, the company which Ashley set up to own the club, has firmly planted a ‘For Sale’ sign in the middle of the St James’ Park pitch.

There is no more smoking out of potential investors as there was when Sky Sports appeared to receive a tip off that Ashley was contemplating auctioning the club off during the summer. This is now a full-frontal sales pitch.

Intriguingly, so keen is Ashley to move on from a club which has given him endless grief for a decade, he is even willing to accept a postponement of “substantial payments”.

In what is an unashamed attempt to woo any billionaire or rich consortium looking to buy a football club to choose Newcastle as their future acquisition, Ashley has ensured that this following sentence - the most crucial in the entire statement - is given prominence.

“To give an incoming owner the maximum possible flexibility to make meaningful investment in the club, including in its playing squad, the sale process will give interested parties the opportunity of deferring substantial payments.”

Just as a car company may offer you the chance to pay the lion’s share of the cost over an extended period, Ashley is attempting to lure in potential investors with the same promise for acquiring an entire Premier League football club.

Amanda Staveley’s public appearance at St James’ Park earlier this month was not merely a coincidence, but that is not to say her PCP Capital Partners will be the ones to take the club off Ashley’s hands - if he does indeed spark a sale with this latest statement.

There is tentative interest in Newcastle from all around the globe: in the USA, in the Middle East and, most notably, in East Asia.

It cannot be a coincidence that this announcement comes ahead of what is predicted to be an historic Chinese Communist Party Congress, which begins this week.

President Xi is expected to roll back restrictions on outward investment from China and, importantly, remove the temporary barriers to purchasing sports clubs which were introduced in August.

Chinese groups have invested in the likes of AC Milan, Inter Milan, West Bromwich Albion and Southampton in recent years, but blocks were then placed on capital leaving the Communist nation by the State Council.

Given that United are understood to have been in contact with at least two consortia based in East Asia, the expected removal of these restrictions is wholly significant.

Seemingly this statement from Newcastle is almost pre-empting what we are likely to learn from the Congress - and is ensuring the Magpies place themselves firmly at the forefront of the market just before Chinese money is likely to come flooding into Europe.

Evidently, Ashley has acknowledged that his method of running a football club is simply unsustainable given that he has little interest in bankrolling Newcastle.

“Newcastle United requires a clear direction and a path to a bright and successful future... To give the club the best possible opportunity of securing the positioning and investment necessary to take it to the next level, at what is an important time in its history, its present ownership has determined that it is in the best interests of Newcastle United and its fans for the club to be put up for sale,” the statement reads.

Under Benitez, Newcastle United really could become something special - but only if he is backed.

Even Ashley appears to acknowledge that now, even if his desire to sell is undoubtedly one of self-interest first and foremost.

All of the whispers over the last few months have suggested that we were starting to edge towards a final divorce settlement between Newcastle and Ashley.

The man himself has now made it clear that it is very much his intention to make that potential separation a reality.

The end game really is nigh - or, at the very least, EVERY party associated with the club now hopes so. Only time will tell if that becomes a reality.