Newcastle United goalkeeper Rob Elliot has branded the club's impending potential takeover as "exciting for everyone".

After months of speculation, current Magpies owner Mike Ashley officially put the club up for sale last week, stating that he hoped a deal could go through by Christmas.

Businesswoman Amanda Staveley is thought to be in pole position to purchase the North-East club, with reports in recent days even suggesting that she intends to provide manager Rafael Benitez with a transfer kitty as large as £500m.

"There's obviously interest which is exciting for everyone," Elliot told The Chronicle. "Hopefully someone comes in who can take the club forward, which will be great. Hopefully it's a great thing for the club all round, so the club can kick on. The infrastructure is already fantastic.

"As players we can't do a lot about it, we just watch the telly and read the papers like everyone else, but we just hope everything works out for the club because we've been through a lot these past few years.

"But there's now a positive vibe around the place and we've got to make sure we continue with that. We want this to be a long-term thing, where we're always looking forward and not back."

Newcastle are currently seventh in the Premier League table, having taken 14 points from their first nine games.