Derek Llambias, Graham Carr and Sandy Easdale descend on Cappielow as Mike Ashley allies eye Morton

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Associates of Newcastle owner Mike Ashley have held talks with former Rangers director Sandy Easdale over a stunning bid for Championship club Morton.

Sportsmail can reveal that Derek Llambias and former St James’ Park chief scout Graham Carr left Scotland on Tuesday night following two days of discussions with the McGill’s bus tycoon.

The three men turned up at Cappielow to see Morton’s reserve team lose 1-0 to Queen of the South on Monday. 

Associates of Newcastle owner Mike Ashley are weighing up a move for Morton

Morton sources believed they were there to watch Easdale’s son Alexander play for the second string, insisting the club are unaware of any takeover plans following the death of long-time chairman Douglas Rae in June.

However, a spokesman for Easdale told Sportsmail: ‘I can confirm that Mr Carr, Mr Llambias and Mr Easdale were given a tour of the ground and the facilities and they met with the chief executive (Warren Hawke) and the manager (Jonatan Johansson) of the team.’

Billionaire Ashley made his fortune as owner of Sports Direct and now owns House of Fraser, as well as holding stakes in Debenhams and outlet store Flannels.

Embroiled in a long-standing retail legal battle with Rangers, the 54-year-old held an 8.92-per-cent stake in the Ibrox club until he sold his shares to fans’ group Club 1872 and Ibrox investor Julian Wolhardt last year.

Derek Llambias (pictured) and ex-Rangers director Sandy Easdale are heading the bid

Ashley is speaking to an American consortium over selling Newcastle United for £300million, but has asked his advisers to look into providing financial and footballing support to Inverclyde businessman Easdale to turn Morton into a Magpies feeder club.

A former chairman of the Rangers football board, Easdale retained a stake of around 6.5 per cent in the Glasgow club until his holding was diluted earlier this week when the Ibrox club issued 63 million new shares in a debt-for-equity scheme which raised £6m.

Llambias was chief executive of Rangers until Dave King’s regime seized power in March 2015 while Carr — father of television star Alan — is a former scout with Tottenham and Newcastle — and currently operates as an associate director with English League Two side Northampton Town.

All three men are close to Ashley, though Easdale’s spokesman insists discussions concerning a move for Morton are in the ‘early stages’.