WITH Steed Malbranque's transfer value plummeting by the day, Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd is biding his time before making a take-it-or-leave-it offer for the unsettled Fulham midfielder.
After rejecting Chris Coleman's offer of a new deal at Craven Cottage, Malbranque is currently training with Fulham's youth team as part of a junior tour to Austria.
Three weeks ago, the Belgian-born midfielder was at the heart of a three-way bidding war that involved Newcastle, Middlesbrough and West Ham.
But with the Hammers refusing to break their £25,000-a-week wage cap and Boro boss Gareth Southgate becoming increasingly frustrated at Malbranque's intransigence, the Magpies now find themselves in pole position in the race for the 26-year-old playmaker.
They will not, however, be rushing into a formal approach to the Frenchman's representatives.
With Malbranque having been ostracised on the banks of the Thames, it is inconceivable that he will still be a Fulham player at the start of next season.
His current contract expires next May and the Cottagers' board are keen to remove his £40,000-a-week salary from the wage bill, while also avoiding the prospect of him leaving for nothing next summer.
That leaves Newcastle in a strong position, both in terms of negotiating a fee with Fulham and in relation to their contract discussions with Malbranque.
Publicly, Newcastle's board are hinting that their interest in the former Lyon midfielder is now at an end. Privately, they are understood to be monitoring the situation before approaching Fulham with a cut-price offer.
Their reluctance to pay an inflated fee for a player who will be available on a free transfer next summer in understandable.
But while Fulham had initially been hoping to receive around £5m for their most highly-rated asset, Malbranque's willingness to dig his heels in means they may now be forced to accept less than half that.
Similarly, Malbranque's ability to command £40,000-a-week in wages has been severely hampered by his refusal to back down in his recent row with Coleman.
If he is presented with a choice between a year in Fulham's reserve team or a 25 per cent reduction in wages, it would be a major surprise if he did not grudgingly plump for the latter.