FORMER Newcastle benefactor Sir John Hall has assured the club's fans that billionaire businessman Mike Ashley will make the required investment to transform the Magpies into a Premiership powerhouse.

And after revealing that his own involvement at St James' Park could continue in a consultancy capacity, the one-time chairman also admitted that Ashley would be looking to take Newcastle United off the stock market before the start of next season.

Ashley will meet with a number of financial associates over the weekend to discuss the finer details of the formal offer document that is expected to be sent to every Newcastle United shareholder in the second half of next week.

The sporting goods magnate, who became the club's biggest shareholder when he purchased the Hall family's 41.6 per cent stake on Wednesday, is hoping to pass the 50 per cent threshold that would grant him control of day-to-day affairs within a fortnight of the offer document being released.

The formal takeover process will take much longer - possibly more than two months - but majority ownership will enable Ashley to remove Freddy Shepherd from the board, a symbolic move that would place further pressure on the current chairman to relinquish his 29 per cent stake sooner rather than later.

A complete buy-out of the club depends on Shepherd selling his shareholding to Ashley, and a number of the current chairman's friends and business partners, who currently boast small but significant stakes, doing the same.

Such a situation moved a significant step closer yesterday afternoon when the Newcastle board issued a statement to the stock exchange revealing that they would be seeking a face-to-face meeting with Ashley at the start of next week.

If Ashley were to take Newcastle back into private ownership for the first time since Hall floated it on the stock market in 1996, he would assume complete control over manager Sam Allardyce's budget for new players.

His £1.9billion fortune suggests he has the means to fund Newcastle's attempts to re-establish themselves as Champions League contenders, and Hall yesterday claimed that he also boasted the ambition to go with his swollen accounts.

Just as significantly, though, the 74-year-old knight also suggested it would be far easier for Ashley to transform Newcastle's fortunes if he was in complete control of the club, a message that can be interpreted as a thinly-veiled threat to Shepherd.

"I don't know about taking it back into private ownership, but I would guess they would want to do it," said Hall. "My experience is that the city is not suitable for football clubs. There are too many controls and football clubs don't sit well within the city code.

"I've talked to them (Mike Ashley and his team), and I'm certain that they'll invest if they get the rest of the shares. His team know the business, and some of his team know Newcastle United very well.

"In my opinion, he will take the club to a new dimension. We've probably run out of ideas a bit, and you have to make changes every so often. I'm certain he will be good for the club - I wouldn't have sold to him otherwise."

As well as worrying about Ashley's willingness to fund significant squad strengthening, Newcastle supporters have also voiced concerns about their likely new chairman's aloofness.

Shepherd has been anything but publicity shy during his nine-year tenure, but while there have been times when his comments have returned to haunt him, the club's fans have generally appreciated his obvious emotional attachment to the Magpies.

Ashley is unlikely to be anything like as approachable or vocal, but after discussing the Berkshire-born businessman's future plans during a month-long courtship, Hall is confident he will gradually throw off his shackles of secrecy.

"He has to understand that he has to be attached to the region," confirmed Hall. "You can't run a club without being attached to it, and you can't run a club without having a feeling for it because it's about people, it's about the passion of the people. He knows this - he has said it to me."

Hall's association with Newcastle United stretches back to the days when he would attend St James' Park as a fan, but his boardroom activity began in 1991.

At the time, the Magpies were struggling in the bottom half of the old Second Division but, by the time he severed his financial ties with the club on Wednesday, Hall had contributed to an overhaul that almost resulted in a first major trophy since 1969.

"It has been a rollercoaster ride," he said. "We've had a tremendous innings and we've done a hell of a lot when you look at where the club was years ago. In 20 years we've changed it completely.

"Everyone has memories about Newcastle, it's a wonderful club. I just feel I've done my bit and it's time to move on."