A high-profile football figure is to be investigated by the Football Association over allegations he bet - and lost - at least £300,000 on Harry Redknapp becoming Newcastle manager, reports the Daily Mail.

There are reports that the huge wager was staked on Friday, January 11, during the evening in which Redknapp is believed to have shaken hands on a deal to leave Portsmouth and move to the North East, only to change his mind the following morning.

It is the second time in just over two years that betting on Redknapp changing his job has come under suspicion, following the probe into the £16.7million market on Betfair when he returned to Fratton Park from Southampton in December 2005.

It is understood the individual coming under scrutiny this time was among those who featured in the FA's eight-month inquiry into those betting patterns.

Redknapp was questioned by the FA along with others but the FA said there was no evidence that he had inside knowledge which he used himself or passed on to others, and no one was found guilty of any breach of football rules.

There is no suggestion that Redknapp has committed any offence on this occasion either, but the re-emergence of a name mentioned in the previous probe will prompt another thorough investigation of betting patterns.

An FA spokesman said: "We have clear rules on the use of insider information for betting purposes and if we have suspicions that these rules have been broken we will of course make inquiries."