Amanda Staveley's bid for Newcastle 'worth up to £500m' '“ and backed by Arabian Gulf and Chinese investors

Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National report that Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool's owners, turned down the offer from an investment consortium led by financier Staveley after a year of talks.

Liverpool chairman Tom Werner, however, has denied this claim.

Staveley has since turned her attention to Newcastle.

The club was formally put up for sale last week by Mike Ashley, who bought it a decade ago for £134million.

Staveley is now understood to be looking at the club's books after signing a non-disclosure agreement with the club, which is seventh in the Premier League.

The report claims Staveley's consortium, led by PCP Capital Partners, includes "Arabian Gulf and Chinese investors".

It adds that Staveley – who watched Newcastle's recent home game against Liverpool – is in talks over a deal which could be worth "up to £500million".

Meanwhile, Werner has refuted the claim that Staveley's group had a bid for Liverpool rejected.

We have better things to do than batting down rumours about negotiations with Ms Staveley," Werner told the Liverpool Echo.

"However, there's no truth to them."