Club owner Ashley put the Magpies up for sale in September

Two foreign investors have emerged as "serious" potential buyers of Premier League club Newcastle United.

Keith Harris, who has been tasked with selling the club, would not name those involved but said he hoped a sale would be concluded by early next year.

"There are two expressions of serious interest, which is good progress," he told BBC Sport's Olly Foster.

Magpies owner Mike Ashley put the club up for sale in September after coming under fire from disgruntled fans.

They were upset at the departure of manager Kevin Keegan and at several other aspects of Ashley's regime.

The businessman, who made his fortune by creating the Sports Direct chain of stores, was thought to be asking �250m for a club he bought for �134m in May 2007.

But Harris, chairman of investment bank Seymour Pierce, said the current economic climate made a sale a little trickier.

"It's difficult to sell anything at the moment," said the 55-year-old, who also advised in the takeovers of Aston Villa by Randy Lerner and Manchester City by Thaksin Shinawatra.

"It's a buyer's market. No-one feels as though they have to own a football club, but there is interest and it is real.

"The important thing is that Mike Ashley is choosing to sell, he is not forced to sell, so it's a very different tenor of conversation."

Interim boss Joe Kinnear recently claimed Newcastle's future will become clearer after the Chelsea game on 22 November.

"After the Chelsea match it is D-Day," he said.

"After that it will all be revealed. Either the club will be sold or they have changed their minds."

While the identities of the two front-runners are not known, Harris cast doubts over the validity of the bids made by consortiums from Nigeria and South Africa.

"We have had Nigerians that don't exist, and South Africans told by the media they were bidding," he said.

A Nigerian consortium led by businessman Chris Nathaniel was one of the first to show interest in the club.

Nathaniel insisted to BBC Sport on Tuesday that his bid was genuine.

No-one feels as though they have to own a football club, but there is interest and it is real Keith Harris

"The bid certainly still exists," he said. "We're currently getting a financial adviser on board to take the bid forward with Newcastle.

"I really can't get my head around why anyone would make such a stupid statement."

Football Association chairman Lord Triesman said it did not matter if Newcastle's next owner was foreign or British, so long as they had the right values.

"I would want someone who has at heart Newcastle's football traditions. There is no reason why people cannot buy into those values," said Lord Triesman.

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