A Saudi-led consortium are set to complete their takeover of Newcastle United bringing Mike Ashley's 14-year ownership of the club to an end, but what does it mean going forward?
The takeover will involve Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) taking a controlling 80 per cent stake in the club, with the purchasing consortium led by Amanda Staveley.
The deal to buy Newcastle has been fraught with controversy and obstacles since Staveley and her party registered an interest in acquiring the club four years ago.
That appears to be coming to an end, but how did we get here now and what does it mean for Newcastle going forward?
Diplomatic disputes in the Gulf, objections based on Saudi Arabia's human rights record and Premier League ownership concerns have all been issues in the process to this point.
Sky Sports News reporter Keith Downie explains how and why Newcastle are on the verge of becoming one of the richest football clubs on the planet.
What has changed for this to happen now?
The big thing has been the agreement struck on Tuesday between beIN Sports and Saudi Arabia over illegal streaming of Premier League matches in the Gulf State. That was the major obstacle in the takeover going through and it has now been ironed out.
Three things were holding it up in this regard…
As part of a diplomatic dispute, beIN, which is a Qatari company, has been banned from broadcasting in Saudi Arabia for the last four-and-a-half years. Since news of the potential takeover first appeared beIN Sports wanted the ban of their coverage in Saudi Arabia to be reversed.
As part of this, beIN launched an international arbitration case against Saudi Arabia, seeking damages of $1bn due to their refusal to show Premier League matches in the country.
They also wanted the pirating of football through illegal streams in Saudi Arabia - set up on beoutQ - to be turned off.
However, the Saudis approached beIN Sports to end their legal cases recently and the broadcasting company is no longer banned in Saudi Arabia. All these issues have been ironed out.
After that it is now up to the Premier League to ascertain separation between the PIF-backed consortium which is looking to buy Newcastle and the Saudi state.
Who will be the new face of the Newcastle hierarchy and, given that the PIF is overseen by the Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman, how can it be that Newcastle won't be run by the Saudi Arabian state?
Amanda Staveley will be the face of Newcastle. She will be the one to have her feet under the desk at the club, so to speak.
The Premier League and the consortium will have to thrash out ownership issues between them and how that is agreed but the make-up of the consortium will look slightly different to how it first appeared at the start of the takeover talks.
But, make no mistake, to get to this stage the Premier League must be satisfied that the club will not be state-owned as that is the issue the governing body has been adamant about from the start - there must be a separation between Newcastle ownership and the Saudi state.
How concerning is Saudi Arabia's human rights record in all of this?
I have spoken to some fans who are concerned about this. However, a recent Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST) survey showed that 93.8 per cent of fans wanted the takeover to be given approval.
That doesn't mean there aren't concerns about human rights issues but the fans are so desperate for change after various protests and frustrations during the Mike Ashley era.
The supporters here are so passionate, it is bordering on religion - they have been desperate for change for some time now and the vast majority I have spoken to are just keen to see their team improve on the pitch.
What about Steve Bruce's future?
Steve Bruce is resigned to the fact that the new regime will want their own man in place eventually, as is the case with the vast majority of takeovers in football.
However, it is not certain that change will happen straight away and Bruce may oversee the start of this new period for Newcastle.
Right now it is difficult to speculate in terms of names of who the consortium could look at to take over in the longer term.
They were keen to bring Rafa Benitez back to St James' Park previously but he is at Everton now and I would be shocked if he returned to Newcastle.
Having said that the club will have a lot more money to spend when the takeover goes through and the Spaniard is not getting a lot of that at Goodison just now. However, I think the new board will now look elsewhere.
Does Mike Ashley have a future in football ownership elsewhere?
Ashley's 14-year reign at Newcastle is coming to an end.
He was previously linked with moves to take over Ipswich and Birmingham and I wouldn't be surprised to see him come back at a smaller club further down the pyramid - he sees it as a vehicle for advertising for his other business interests.
Ashley will say he has had his fingers burnt in some aspects of being involved in the ownership of a football club but I wouldn't be surprised to see him return somewhere else in a similar capacity.
What does Newcastle's future on the field now look like if this goes through, short and long term?
They are very wealthy - it is the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Saudi Arabia having an 80 per cent stake in Newcastle. It is big money and they have got a lot of money to spend.
They are obviously going to be guided by Financial Fair Play. The information we have been told all along since they came to the table two or three years ago was that they were going to do this gradually.
They are not going to throw money at it straight away. They want to invest gradually in the months and years ahead. There is a lot that needs improving at this football club - the infrastructure, the stadium, the academy - all of these need investment and I think that will be one of their priorities.
One of their other priorities will be to keep Newcastle in the Premier League this season. Without that the takeover would've been off. They need Newcastle in the Premier League.
I do expect them to spend money in the January transfer window, this will give them enough time to assess the squad and see what they want to do. They need to make a decision on the manager as well. They are not going to throw hundreds of millions of pounds at it straight away, it is going to be gradual, they want to do it properly, that has been the plan all along.
They want to put money into the academy and the training ground. Rafa Benitez had been desperate to see both of these upgraded during his time at the club but never got his wish.
The consortium are also keen to invest money into the stadium, for renovation work and upgrades.
They also want to invest in the surrounding area, as well as the infrastructure of the club. They are keen to put money into the city and oversee a redevelopment of the area close by similar to that undertaken by Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour in the east of Manchester.