AND so the claims and counter-claims continue. A source close to Mike Ashley brands discussions with Amanda Staveley over the sale of Newcastle United as “exhausting, frustrating and a complete waste of time”; in response, Staveley breaks her media silence to describe the comments as “absurd” and “hugely hurtful”.

According to the Ashley camp, there is no bid from PCP Capital Partners currently on the table, and they have never received an offer that did not contain relegation clauses; according to Staveley, a £250m offer with no strings attached has never officially been turned down, and there were two previous bids, one of which was worth up to £350m if a series of clauses were met.

Ashley insists he still wants to sell, but sources claim he cannot foresee a scenario where Staveley will be able to give him what he is demanding; Staveley is adamant she still wants to buy, but admits she has no idea whether she will able to complete a deal.

The whole thing is becoming something of a farce, but by putting her head above the parapet to conduct an interview with The Times, Staveley has at least allowed confirmation of her desire to buy Newcastle United to enter the public domain.

That, given Ashley’s complete refusal to subject himself to independent questioning beyond that provided his favoured presenters at Sky Sports, is something, and given that Ashley and his advisors appear determined to portray the North Yorkshire businesswoman as a fantasist, it seems a strange move to make such a public play for legitimacy if there really is no substance to back up her claims.

“This is something we’ve been working really hard on,” said Staveley, speaking from her home-cum-office close to Hyde Park. “It’s not something we’ve just thrown together. I’m putting a lot of my own capital into this and our investors, who come from around the world, include sovereign wealth funds.”

The identity of those investors remains a closely-guarded secret, especially now that the London-based Reuben family – the only individual or group to have been publicly named as one of Staveley’s backers – appear to have withdrawn their offer of funding.

PCP Capital Partners are a difficult organisation to get a handle on – Barclays, who are involved in a long-running court battle with the group, describe them as “a company of no substance whatsoever” – and the source of the funding that could lead to a successful takeover of Newcastle is even harder to pin down. Given the suggestions that Saudi Arabian money could be used to help facilitate a deal, that remains extremely troubling.

Nevertheless, Staveley asserts that the money exists, and claims it would be used to fund a long-term plan that would result in the kind of investment that Ashley has either been unwilling or unable to provide throughout more than a decade in charge at St James’.

If she is able to remove Ashley from the boardroom, Staveley claims she will invest at least £200m, with around half going on new players across the first two transfer windows of her reign and the remainder being used to fund much-needed improvements to an increasingly tired-looking training ground and an academy that has developed a track record for failing to produce players. Ashley’s representatives have talked about addressing both issues in the past, but change has not been forthcoming.

It sounds like the kind of long-term strategic thinking that has been absent at Newcastle for far too long, but the harsh reality is that it will amount to absolutely nothing if Staveley is unable to meet Ashley’s asking price. Offer £350m with no strings attached, and the 44-year-old can get on with turning her dreams for Newcastle into a reality. Stump up £300m, and all the indications are that Ashley will be prepared to take her seriously. Stick with the current offer of £250m, or come up with more caveats relating to possible relegation or the pie-in-the-sky dream of qualifying for the Champions League, and Ashley will continue to dig in his heels and refuse to return to the curry-house table.

For all the bluff and bluster of the last few days, that is still where we are at. Staveley claims she has not heard anything from Ashley or his representatives for more than two months, but she can be in no doubt as to what the Sports Direct owner is wanting. Dennis Wise might have appeared on Sky earlier this week trying to portray Ashley as a genial custodian desperately trying to do what is best for Newcastle, but the reality is that his former boss is only interested in trading in the currency of hard cash.

Money talks, and at the moment, it is saying far more than any briefing to Sky Sports or interview in The Times ever could. If Staveley is genuinely serious about resurrecting her interest in buying Newcastle, she will have to come up with the extra funds required to persuade Ashley to sell. Otherwise, her unhappiness at this week’s events will count for nothing at all.