Rupert Murdoch plans to reassign Robert Thomson, Times editor, to become publisher of the Wall Street Journal next year, a senior U.S. media executive has said.

Thomson's transfer to a senior role at the Journal is the source of intense speculation, although that the $5 billion (£2.5 billion) purchase of WSJ owner Dow Jones is not due to be completed until December.

News Corp. did not make any official comment about the move, but it is understood that Murdoch has been privately specifying his plans for Thomson to other media executives.

"Rupert is being quite open about it,” a senior U.S. media executive told MediaGuardian. “It will probably happen in the first three months next year, but it could be the first six months."

The executive said that Mr. Murdoch was about "90 percent certain" that Thomson would make the move, which would be part of an "Aussie invasion" of New York-based Dow Jones.

Thomson has remained tightlipped about the hearsay, reminding those who enquire that News Corporation does not yet own Dow Jones.

The recent announcement that the Times is set to turn from red to black next year for the first time in its modern history had bolstered the perception that Thomson will move from the editorial side to the commercial side of newspapers for his next title, according to MediaGuardian.