Joe Kinnear will spend the next six months attempting to persuade Michael Owen to “change his mind” about signing a new four-year deal at St James’ Park and has not ruled out the possibility of Newcastle United improving their offer to the England striker. Owen has said that he will keep his options open until the end of the season, when his contract expires, but Kinnear does not assume that he will automatically leave.

Freddy Shepherd, the club’s former chairman, may believe that Owen has a moral duty to remain at Newcastle — a little rich from a man whose regime built a huge financial debt and who received a hefty return on his investment — but the reality is that the forward will make a pragmatic decision. Instability remains ingrained on Tyneside and, as Owen has pointed out, money is not everything.

Kinnear has until June to continue the recent improvement in results and set out his vision for a brighter, less haphazard future. That task will not be straightforward given that Newcastle are up for sale — although Mike Ashley, the owner, has not found a buyer — and that the manager’s contractual arrangement stretches only for the rest of this campaign.

“I’m pleased in some respects that we still have [Owen],” Kinnear said. “I don’t think it’s all doom and gloom. I’ve at least got until the end of the season to persuade him to stay.

“I have discussed that with him. Any sort of success will strengthen the case, for sure. He has been up front with me and I have with him. He said it is a very important decision in his life and that he hoped I accepted that. The contract terms weren’t even mentioned. He’s totally committed to the club, but has to get it clear in his head that he’s making the right decision.”

Owen earns £115,000 weekly and has been offered an extension worth £90,000 a week, the fourth year of which, according to Kinnear, would be dependent on him appearing in 50 per cent of matches the previous season. Kinnear claimed that no club have contacted Newcastle about buying him next month.

Kinnear has other plans for the transfer window, but having contacted “four people”, the omens do not seem favourable. “We are miles apart on prices,” he said. “We have offered around £5 or £6 million and people are saying they want £10 or £12 million.”

Kinnear wants to sign a centre half — he has a firm interest in Matthew Upson, of West Ham United — a left back and a midfield player. Of the other three players whose deals run out at the end of the season, Kinnear reiterated that Nicky Butt is close to agreeing a year’s extension and that “it just boils down to the terms” with Steve Harper and Shola Ameobi.