The 61-year-old will sit down with the England international on Tuesday with a new contract offer on the table amid speculation mounting that his time at St James' Park is drawing to a close.

Owen, whose existing £103,000-a-week deal expires at the end of the current season, will be free to talk to potential suitors next month, and there will be no shortage of takers should he decide not to sign on the dotted line once again.

Kinnear, who will also hold talks with Nicky Butt, Steve Harper and Shola Ameobi, and is expected to discuss an option on Mark Viduka's contract, knows it is up to him to sell the club to the former Real Madrid frontman once again despite the turmoil which currently surrounds it on and off the field.

He said: "We have heard lots of things, that Michael's agent has had lots of clubs on to him.

"Obviously, they will want to know what type of contract we are going to offer him.

"I won't go into those details now, but we will be offering him what we consider an excellent contract considering the climate of what is happening around all football clubs.

"But it will be up to Michael to make that decision.

"I am pretty confident that Shola Ameobi, Steve Harper and Nicky Butt will sign, it's now just down to Michael."

Kinnear made no secret of his desire to tie up Owen's future - as did Kevin Keegan before him - and has left the player in little doubt as to his feelings on the matter.

He said: "Michael is well aware of that, so is his agent. They are well aware of my feelings on that, but the ball is in his court.

"I will find out, hopefully, on Tuesday."

However, asked if he is confident of a positive response, he replied: "I'm not confident, to be honest.

"I'm pretty confident about everybody else, but Michael is a different kettle of fish.

"He is looking at his options, I assume, but I won't go into those details until Tuesday."

Graeme Souness pulled off a major coup in August 2005 when he persuaded Owen to return from Spain to partner Alan Shearer in the last season of his illustrious playing career, paying a club record £17million for his services.

However, injuries, and in particular the knee ligament rupture he suffered at the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, have severely limited his contribution.

The 28-year-old has started just 50 games for the club and appeared in a further 11 more as a substitute in almost three and a half seasons on Tyneside.

But he has scored 28 goals at a rate of almost one every two matches, an illustration of his enduring potency.

That said, his form has not caught the eye of new England boss Fabio Capello, who seems content without him, and that is a major disappointment to a man who is behind only Sir Bobby Charlton, Gary Lineker and Jimmy Greaves in the all-time scorers list for his country on 40.

Owen will almost certainly start for his club at Portsmouth on Sunday having taken his tally for the season to eight with a double in the 2-2 Barclays Premier League draw with Stoke last Saturday.

That point left the Magpies perched just above the drop zone and illustrated Kinnear's need both to tie up his out-of-contract stars and then set about the task of addressing his squad's deficiencies in next month's transfer window.

The manager said: "Once I get those four or five out of the way, then I will look at the transfer market, and I am pretty confident I will have new faces coming in."

Meanwhile, Kinnear confirmed he is to fight an FA charge of using abusive and insulting words towards a match official after being sent to the stands on Saturday.