AFTER weeks of deadlock, Tyneside businessman Barry Moat finally appears to have made significant progress in his attempt to buy Newcastle United.

Sources close to Moat’s proposed buyout of current owner Mike Ashley claim a series of discussions at the start of this week have greatly increased the likelihood of a successful takeover.

Moat’s representatives have been in talks with Barclays Bank, who currently have a £39m overdraft facility with the Magpies.

Barclays had been unwilling to transfer the current arrangement to Moat, and had been demanding that the figure be reduced to around £10m before a takeover could take place.

Moat, a close friend of manager- in-waiting Alan Shearer, has been courting investors in the United States, and an agreement with Barclays would be much more likely if he could convince Newcastle’s bankers that the financial base underpinning his offer has broadened.

Moat’s representatives remain in regular contact with Seymour Pierce, the investment brokers who continue to oversee the proposed sale while Ashley, who watched Newcastle’s Carling Cup exit at Peterborough from the stands, attends an Independent Premier League Tribunal hearing into former manager Kevin Keegan’s claim of constructive dismissal.

Keegan, who is claiming around £8m following his departure from St James’ Park last September, is understood to have turned down a compromise settlement of around £4m at the end of last week.

The tribunal is now expected to end at either the end of this week or the start of next, and the prospects of a successful resolution to Ashley’s ongoing takeover talks will brighten once the uncertainty of a potential compensation payment is removed one way or the other.

In the meantime, Chris Hughton continues to oversee proceedings on the pitch with Marlon Harewood expected to complete a three-month loan move to Tyneside in the next 24 hours.

“Newcastle are looking to do something in terms of Marlon,”

confirmed Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill. “I think the opportunity for him now coming back from injury, to get involved in a cause, would be very important and a benefit for all of us.

“Marlon has been out since pre-season with injuries, but he is fighting back, feeling fine, and has trained for a few days on the trot. People are pressing for places, and at this moment we have competition for places up front.”

Harewood’s arrival will increase Hughton’s options, after the interim manager paid the price for fielding a vastly inexperienced starting line-up when Newcastle crashed out of the Carling Cup on Tuesday.

James Tavernier, Ben Tozer, Ryan Donaldson and Haris Vuckic all made their first senior start at London Road, with Kazenga Lua Lua making start number two, and the Magpies were comprehensively outclassed by a Peterborough line-up boasting considerable Championship experience.

The defeat underlined the chronic lack of depth in the current Newcastle squad, and suggested that many of the club’s young fringe players are not yet ready for the rigours of life in the Championship.

Tim Krul could be exception given the string of fine saves he produced in the second half, but the 21-year-old goalkeeper insists his fellow youngsters will benefit greatly from the experience of playing in the senior side on Tuesday night.

“It will have showed the young lads exactly what the standard is like in the Championship,”

said Krul. “So from that point of view, it was a worthwhile exercise.

“Having played in a game like this, they know what they have to be prepared for if they are called upon in the league.

They have to be ready for these kind of games, so it was a good experience for them.

“Now they know what they are up against. I remember my first game in the first team and it was a really eye-opening experience.

“Both Alan Smith and Kevin Nolan came back in the changing room and said, ‘Listen, this is the standard of this league – everybody knows about it now. This is what you have to train for in the week’.”

At the moment, Krul is training largely to be an understudy to Newcastle’s established number one, Steve Harper.

The Dutchman impressed at West Brom on the opening day of the season when Harper was kicked in the face while trying to prevent the Baggies’ opener, but was immediately dropped back to the bench seven days later as the Magpies entertained Reading.

“Steve is hard competition for me,” he said. “But it’s going to be a long season, and the chances are that I will get an opportunity somewhere down the line.”