There were more developments regarding the future of Newcastle United yesterday, with Tony Jimenez, one of Mike Ashley’s most influential acolytes, leaving to “pursue other interests” and Keith Harris, the man charged with handling the club’s sale, giving warning that a change of ownership could not be guaranteed. With more bad news on the injury front, it was another routine 24 hours at St James’ Park.

Mark Viduka may be absent for at least six months, by which time Newcastle supporters hope that Ashley’s stewardship on Tyneside will be consigned to memory. That remains the target — the billionaire sportswear retailer is not merely paying lip service to the notion of selling — but the economic conditions and crisis in the banking market are not conducive to speed.

Potential buyers of the club have until October 17 to register a firm interest, but with the process of due diligence likely to be necessary, the prospects of a swift sale are receding. “It is a major iconic brand and we are attracting interest, but this is a very easy climate for people to find an excuse,” Harris, the head of Seymour Pierce, the investment bank, said.

Asked whether that meant that Ashley could reconsider his decision to leave, Harris was non-committal. “I wouldn’t rule anything out, football is so unpredictable,” he said. It is a prospect that would meet fury from fans, who, under the umbrella of the newly created Newcastle United Supporters Club, are to step up their opposition to Ashley through boycotts of official club products and other means.

Jimenez’s departure will be broadly welcomed by the fans. As vicepresident (player recruitment), the Londoner was partly responsible for the signings of Jonás Gutiérrez and Fabricio Coloccini, but he will be remembered for his close association with Ashley and Dennis Wise, the executive director (football), during the fallout from Kevin Keegan’s resignation.

Newcastle emphasised that Jimenez’s decision was personal; he has been underemployed since Ashley said that he would listen to offers but intends to stay in football. Player recruitment is obviously no longer a priority for Ashley, who would resist pressure to strengthen the squad were he in situ during the January transfer window.

The perils of that scenario have been thrown into sharper focus. Viduka was 33 yesterday, but the landmark is hardly cause for celebration. When it comes to injuries, Newcastle continue to suffer at least one heavy stumble backwards for every forward step they take. The concern is that a damaged Achilles tendon may bring an early end to Viduka’s stint at the club.

The striker has been in Australia this week talking to specialists about a problem that first required attention at the end of last season, when he had injections in his leg. Rest has not cured him of pain and while Joe Kinnear spoke optimistically after his appointment as interim manager of Viduka returning within “six weeks”, that opinion has been revised.

“Mark Viduka has had one scan on his injury, but he wanted a second opinion and so did our medical people,” Kinnear said. “That is why he has gone back to Australia. However, we know there is a chance Viduka may need surgery and if this turns out to be the case we will be without him for a minimum of six months. We will know more when Viduka comes back in about six days and in the meantime all we can do is wait and hope.”

Viduka’s contract on Tyneside expires this summer and the club are unlikely to exercise their option of tying him to another year. The Australia forward has started 19 league matches for the club since joining from Middlesbrough on a free transfer in June last year, scoring seven goals, which represents an expensive return on his estimated £65,000-a-week wages.

Gerry Francis is mulling over the possibility of joining Newcastle’s coaching staff part time, despite pessimistic comments from Kinnear about the prospect. “I’ll look at it, talk to Joe about it and then decide,” Francis, who is working with Stoke City in a similar capacity, said.

Expensive strikers and the law of diminishing net returns

- Mark Viduka will probably prove to have cost Newcastle United about £1 million a goal but, for clearly failing to deliver value for money, he is in good company. Andriy Shevchenko must be grateful that performance-related pay is so uncommon in football.

- Chelsea paid AC Milan £30 million for Shevchenko and gave the Ukraine striker about £13 million in wages over two years but received only 22 goals in return, only nine of which came in the Premier League.

While the transfer fee Milan gave Chelsea to re-sign Shevchenko was not revealed, it is likely that the Stamford Bridge club paid considerably more than £1.5 million per goal for the player’s services.

- Sergei Rebrov, Shevchenko’s former Dynamo Kiev team-mate, also short-changed a London club, scoring 16 times for Tottenham Hotspur at almost £1 million a goal.

- Arsenal paid a slightly higher rate for the eight goals that Francis Jeffers scored for them (£1.1 million each) and Mateja Kezman was another striker Chelsea will want to forget, having paid about £7 million net for a return of seven goals.

- The cost per goal to Aston Villa for signing Bosko Balaban was infinitely worse — he did not score in return for the £5.8 million transfer fee and £1.5 million wages that the club paid before releasing him for nothing.

Words by Bill Edgar