NEWCASTLE director of rugby Steve Diamond believes the club need an investor with a “10 or 15-year plan” rather than a short-term solution.

The Falcons are languishing at the foot of the Premiership, having won only two league matches this season and currently looking for new investment.

According to some reports over the weekend, other Premiership teams and CVC Capital Partners — who hold a 27 per cent stake in the league — could provide Newcastle with a loan of about £4 million to meet financial requirements in order to play next season.

When asked about the reports, Diamond replied: “The article came out over the weekend. It’s probably on record that we are looking for new investment and I’m pretty sure that this is just — if the investment doesn’t come — it’s a fallback position to maintain our status in the league.”

The PA news agency understands that contingency plans are being looked at if more time is needed for Newcastle to find an investor.

In the 2022-23 season, a financial crisis in the Premiership saw three clubs enter administration with the collapses of London Irish, Wasps and Worcester — the latter of whom Diamond coached — as the league dropped to 10 teams.

Newcastle are the most northerly based team in the top flight, with Friday night’s opponents Sale their nearest neighbours and Diamond insisted that the Falcons need long-term investment rather than a quick fix.

“In a case of desperation, the Premiership clubs assisting and Premiership Rugby assisting would be probably a methodology of keeping us going for a year,” he said.

“For the investors who need to come into Newcastle, it needs to be a 10 or 15-year plan. It needs the stadium to be put to 15,000. It needs the development around the ground to be done.

“It’s not just a sport place, a property place, it needs us to go to salary cap and there’ll be some losses incurred initially on that.

“You want an investor who’s not going to just put a couple of million quid in to get us through next year, I don’t think. I think we need to look bigger than that, attract people and there are people out there who’re interested, it’s just making sure we can push the right buttons.

“Again, there’s no point solving the problem for a year and [finding that] this time in 12 months we’re in the same boat. It needs to be an investment plan where they’re looking at the whole regeneration of certainly this area.

“Could the [Rugby Football Union] get involved? I don’t think they could really, I think it would be difficult for them.

“Geographically it’s enormous, it’s not the north-east, it’s Cumbria across, it’s the whole top of England. Sale and Newcastle represent everything up from the Midlands.

“It’s a massive rugby area. I think the ideal for me is if we get investment, we want to look at it on a grander scale than just surviving at the bottom of the league next year.”