Barton was yesterday sentenced for an assault in his native Liverpool in the early hours of December 27, having gone out drinking after being left out of Sam Allardyce's side for the Boxing Day game away to Wigan Athletic.

Manager Kevin Keegan is determined to stand by the troubled midfielder, who he first worked with at Manchester City.

And he will hold talks with chairman Chris Mort on Barton's future before he leaves for a holiday in the United States at the end of the week.

Keegan wants the club to back Barton – however Mort and owner Mike Ashley, conscious of the damage the episode has done to the club, will want to consider all options, including terminating the multi-million pound contract he signed last summer after joining in a £5.8m deal.

Certainly, they will not want to pay Barton's £60,000-a-week wages while he is in prison, and could be suspended for some or all of his time at Her Majesty's Pleasure.

The Barton camp, meanwhile, are hopeful that he will be allowed out on licence with a tag, maybe as soon as in a month's time.

However, in any case he is only likely to serve three months, meaning he would be ready to return to training in late August, just days after the start of the new Premier League campaign.

Barton – who had pleaded guilty to an assault and affray charge – had gone into the summer break knowing he faced a custodial sentence, telling team-mates as such.

And the 25-year-old still faces trial for an alleged assault on former Man City team-mate Ousmane Dabo, to which he is pleading not guilty, and the outcome of the second case could prove crucial.

No one at St James's Park has yet commented on the case, with the club instead issuing a terse statement saying it was "considering" the verdict.

Meanwhile, Newcastle are understood to have agreed home friendlies against Rangers, on Wednesday, August 6, and Valencia, on Saturday, August 9.

However, United are yet to confirm these fixtures, and the rest of their pre-season plans.