Newcastle United fans should be worried about the collapse of a potential takeover if nothing more has happened by mid-January, according to Telegraph journalist Luke Edwards.
Edwards, who is the North-East sports reporter for the newspaper, claimed on his personal Twitter account on Friday that mid-January is the point at which concern over a deal is justified.
If nothing has happened by mid January I’d be worried
— Luke Edwards (@LukeEdwardsTele) December 14, 2018
Former Premier League executive Peter Kenyon is reported to be leading a consortium keen on taking over from Mike Ashley, with the Daily Star reporting that a deal in principle had now been agreed.
OPINION
When talk of a new takeover emerged, with Ashley openly admitting to Sky Sports that something was in the offing, many Newcastle fans were quick to dismiss this as another ruse by the owner ahead of the January transfer window. However, as time has gone on, with Kenyon named as an involved party, then hope seems to have risen once again on Tyneside of an Ashley exit. Obviously, as the days pass and the transfer window gets closer, that hope seems to stutter slightly. Conflicting reports are constantly emerging about the status of a deal, and that never helps settle any nerves surrounding the situation. Edwards has however been a reliable source on the takeover ever since it broke, and his assertion that mid-January is the point at which concern will grow does seem to be viable. The likelihood of a pre-2019 takeover now looks low, so progress in the first half of January does look to be the next best and most likely next step. Fans will now just have to hope that something has indeed happened by then, or they may be feeling a heavy sense of deja-vu towards the end of the upcoming window.