I'm selling up, says emotional Ashley

Mike Ashley last night planted a "For Sale" sign outside St James' Park with apparent reluctance but the club's owner is not about to offload Newcastle United at a knockdown price.

In a lengthy statement Ashley offered an impassioned defence of his modus operandi since buying the club in May last year and claimed Newcastle are only on the market because "you [the fans] want me out". Bargain buckets may be a feature of the billionaire Sports Direct owner's retail outlets but Ashley's insistence that "this is not a fire sale" indicates Newcastle could be on the market for some time.

City sources, who claim the 45-year-old has been seeking a buyer at the right price for some months, might demur but it seems Ashley's failed attempt to recapture Kevin Keegan, who resigned as manager nearly two weeks ago, finally convinced him to bail out. His decision to sell came as it emerged that Alan Shearer has been relieved of his ambassadorial duties with the club following critical comments made by the former Newcastle captain about the "strange" set-up at St James'.

"I am putting the club up for sale," said Ashley. "I hope that the next owner is someone who can lavish the amount of money on the club that the fans want. This will not be a fire sale. Newcastle is now in a much stronger position than it was in 2007. It is planning for the future and it is sustainable. I have the interests of Newcastle United at heart. I have listened to you. You want me out. That is what I am now trying to do but it won't happen overnight and it may not happen at all if a buyer does not come in."

Almost since the day he bought out the Hall family and ousted the former chairman Freddy Shepherd, Newcastle have been the subject of assorted takeover rumours and the latest centres on Xu Rongmao, a Chinese property developer who is seemingly keen to exploit St James' Park's city-centre position by redeveloping the high-value land around the ground.

It is understood that Ashley tried to make contact with representatives of Dubai International Capital last week but any talks are yet to take place and, in any case, DIC remains focused on Liverpool.

Talk of a local consortium buying him out appears fanciful as it is hard to identify north-east business people possessing either the money or the inclination to take over. Shepherd, though, last night claimed he had turned down potential involvement with two foreign consortiums keen to buy into Newcastle. He has previously told friends he will concentrate on attempting to purchase Real Mallorca but last night insisted "never say never" about a possible return.

Although the Indian billionaire Anil Ambani, head of the Reliance telecommunications group, claims to have turned his attentions to Everton, Ashley may be hoping to tempt the world's sixth-richest man after earlier interest in Newcastle.

While he waits to recoup his investment, Newcastle's owner is pleading for patience and, having launched an impassioned defence of the continental managerial structure presided over by Dennis Wise - who he says has done a "first-class job" - which so infuriated Keegan, Ashley is aiming shamelessly for a soft spot in the Geordie psyche. Tynesiders invariably put their "bairns" first so when he said, "I have really loved taking my kids to the games, being next to them and all the fans. But I am now a dad who can't take his kids to a football game on a Saturday because I am advised that we would be assaulted. Therefore, I am no longer prepared to subsidise Newcastle United", he will have intended to touch a collective nerve.

Speaking to inhabitants of a city where many people have lost, or are about to lose jobs at Newcastle's sponsors, Northern Rock, Ashley also played the "sensible" card stressing he was aiming to avoid creating another Leeds United out of a club on which he has spent more than £250m.

"I paid £134m out of my own pocket for the club," he said. "I then poured another £110m not to pay off the debt but just to reduce it. I am determined that Newcastle United is not only here today but that it is also there tomorrow for your children."