Amanda Staveley has turned her attention to buying Leeds United after her attempted takeover of Newcastle United ground to a halt this week, according to the Sun.
The newspaper claim that the wealthy businesswoman is eyeing a move for the Championship big hitters after Mike Ashley ended takeover talks.
Staveley claims she still has an offer on the table to buy Newcastle from Ashley and has promised £100million will be spent on players in the first two transfer windows if a deal can be sealed.
But the Sun report Staveley, who has also failed to get hold of Liverpool, has her sights on Leeds, who were bought by Andrea Radrizzani last year from erratic former owner Massimo Cellino.
Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners group have been close to buying the north-east giants but negotiations collapsed this week when Ashley issued an explosive statement on Tuesday denying any deal was on the table and insisted talks have been “exhausting”.
Staveley has come out fighting against the “hurtful” statement and claimed she still very much wants to buy Newcastle and resurrect discussions.
“I’m very much still interested in buying Newcastle,” Staveley told The Times. “And our bid remains on the table. I’m very concerned, I’m very surprised and I’m disappointed about what’s been said this week.”
The Times report in the interview with Steveley that she is is committed to investing another £200million in the club on top of the cash to buy out Ashley, with “at least £100million on new players across the first two transfer windows and the same again on improving a tired training ground and ineffective academy”.
OPINION
The source of Staveley’s wealth is vague, as are the investors backing her PCP Capital Partners Group. But she told the Times that the Reuben family, who have an estimated worth of £13billion and a significant property portfolio on Tyneside, are involved in her bid to take over Newcastle. That is the kind of money that Leeds owner Radrizzani can only dream of, as is Staveley’s promise at Newcastle to spend £100million on new players in the next two windows. Radrizzani has proved to be a sensible owner who is cut from a very different cloth to his fellow Italian Cellino, but he is far from the sugar daddy that many Leeds fans would have dreamed of.