The Belgravia Group, a small investment company based in Jersey, has confirmed that it is considering launching a bid for Newcastle Utd football club.

The announcement comes a week after American billionaire Randy Lerner unveiled plans to buy Aston Villa for £62.6m – the Magpies are valued at around £100m.

A statement released to the Stock Exchange said: "Following recent press speculation, the Belgravia Group confirms that it is examining the potential opportunity of acquiring Newcastle Utd, which may or may not lead to an offer for the company being made by Belgravia."

The recent interest in Premier League teams has been accounted to the success of the World Cup and the reignition of enthusiasm ahead of the new season. From an investment perspective, generating any kind of significant financial return from a football club remains highly problematic for all but the biggest clubs.

However, Newcastle, with the newly-refurbished 52,000-capacity St James' Park, modern training facilities and fervid supporters, would appear to be an attractive proposition, although a question mark hangs over how far merchandising and branding opportunities extend beyond the North East.

A potential stumbling block for the deal may come in the form of chairman Freddy Shepherd, who has indicated repeatedly that he would be reluctant to sell his 28.5 per cent holding. Without Shepherd's shares, Belgravia would be unable to secure the 75 per cent required to take the company private.