The club everyone

“And Mike’s not one to be forced to do something or pushed into a corner because he doesn’t need to, he’s wealthy enough as it is. “He doesn’t need to.” And Wise – who overlooked some bad signings as Newcastle director of football – feels Ashley will buy player in this window.

He said: “If there’s certain players out there (he will finance it).

“He’s not going to spend £100million.

“There’s players out there who you can get.

“You’ve got staff that work to bring players in, go out there and bring one in.

“Give an impact to the team by bringing a couple in but it’s not going to be, as I say, £40m to £50m or £60m. Stay in your bracket and bring those players in.”

Wise also believes that Ashley will stick with the club if he can’t find a buyer and even if the club are relegated.

He said: “He would stay in the structure and bring them back up.

“What you have to realise is that when they went down they were the highest team in terms of wages.

“He kept what he needed to keep and he kept it that wage bill.

“There was a massive difference in the quality of the players. Chris (Hughton) did a good job in getting them back up but he had a quality set of players in that division.

“Then it’s about adding to those players when you get up.

“I think Rafa Benitez has done that well and I think they’ve got enough to stay up.

“I don’t think they’ll go down and I hope they don’t go down and then I hope they can move it forward.”