Mike Ashley has not made contact with Derby County's administrators in an attempt to purchase the stricken Championship club, according to Sky Sports journalist Rob Dorsett.

Ashley landed himself a £300 million windfall this week when transferring Newcastle United over to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund following a 14-year reign as the Magpies owner.

Almost immediately there were links with the Walsall-born businessman to Pride Park, with the Mirror revealing that he is interested in taking the club out of administration.

However per Sky Sports there hasn't been any contact just yet and there may never be as 'buying another football club isn’t necessarily a top priority', per Dorsett.

A number of different parties are said to have registered an interest in purchasing County, including former Ipswich Town chairman Marcus Evans, who sold the Tractor Boys to a USA-based consortium earlier this year.

Despite Derby's debts being in excess of £150 million according to BBC Sport, at least four parties have signed non-disclosure agreements which shows intent to make a bid to purchase the club.

The Verdict

Even though Ashley is yet to register official interest, there's no saying that he definitely won't do in the end.

The majority of Newcastle fans may have very much disliked him, but Ashley is a wealthy man and the Magpies were never in financial peril with him at the helm.

He is someone who could invest quite a bit of money into Derby but there's likely to be a few parties with legitimate finances who can make a deal work.

Ashley's name will probably not go away for now but it doesn't look like right now he will be the next owner of the club/