TROUBLED Joey Barton is desperate for another chance at Newcastle United – even if it means working under Alan Shearer in the Championship.

Discussions are on-going to make Shearer the new manager, but Mike Ashley’s decision to sell the club has added to the uncertainty surrounding the club.

Every player’s future remains unclear, including Barton who is expected to move on during the summer.

Ashley and Shearer are in full agreement that Barton should be sold to remove a player earning around £64,000-a-week in wages.

Following the heated dressing room row between the player and manager at Anfield in May, Shearer sees no future at the club for the £5.8m signing from Manchester City.

But Barton’s agent, Willie McKay, has already hinted his client is in no rush to go and now the controversial character himself has hammered home that point.

The 26-year-old said: “I have tried to make the best of my time off the pitch. It has been well documented that I have had problems with alcohol and I am trying to turn a corner now.

“All I am looking forward to is going back, I just hope I’m welcome there. My intention is to stay with the club so I am concentrating on getting back into peak fitness.”

Barton was already on his last chance at Newcastle before his red card for a lunging tackle on Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso sparked the bust-up with Shearer.

He was given 200 hours community service last year for punching Ousmane Dabo on the training ground when they were both at Manchester City.

And he was also jailed for six months for another attack, outside a McDonald’s in Liverpool city centre, which was caught on CCTV. He walked free after 74 days.

Barton was banned by the FA for 12 matches – six suspended – and fined £25,000 after admitting a violent conduct charge in relation to the Dabo incident.

And earlier this year he was fined £750 for driving without a licence.

All of the above have contributed to Ashley’s determination to offload him and the clash with Shearer has strengthened that belief.

But while Barton remains available, Newcastle’s desperate situation does improve the chances of him staying at St James’ Park, with Shearer and Ashley still unsure of what will happen in the next few weeks.

“Everything with the club is a little bit up in the air,” said Barton. “It is not good times being relegated. I don’t know what is going to happen with the club or with the manager situation.

“It’s really frustrating this has happened, especially as I only played about six or seven games. I’m just looking forward to going back and my intention is to stay at the club and help Newcastle back into the Premier League.

“If Alan Shearer takes the job and if he doesn’t want me then my hands are tied. All I can do is try to get as fit as possible, but I have got to prepare for all eventualities.”

Recently Barton has been involved in a project called Second Chance, which aims to give recovering drug addicts and people suffering from homelessness something to focus on to keep them off drugs.

Ashley, meanwhile, should be clearer on the type of contract he can offer Shearer later today.

The club’s bankers are understood to have earmarked today as the day when Ashley has to come up with a business plan to reduce the £40m working capital facility by 50 per cent.

If successful then the Newcastle owner could be in a position to finalise terms with Shearer, although it remains to be seen whether an agreement can be reached.