Peter Kenyon’s bid to takeover Newcastle United has hit problems with the former Premier League executive still short by £100million, according to The Sun.
The newspaper report that Kenyon has so far managed to muster up just £200million as he seeks more backers for his attempt to buy out embattled owner Mike Ashley.
The Sun claim that Ashley wants more than £300million for the Magpies, meaning Kenyon is well short of that valuation at this moment in time.
It is said that a takeover before the January transfer window is now highly unlikely, with manager Rafa Benitez concerned about a subsequent lack of funds to spend.
OPINION
While many Newcastle fans will have been trying hard to not get excited by all this fresh takeover talk, this latest update will still come as a blow. The right noises have been emanating from Tyneside over the past week or so, with several journalists admitting that a takeover looked likelier than ever, but it appears we are still a long way away from any kind of agreement. Kenyon and his consortium look to be the most likely successful bidders, but there are no doubt others involved who could end up overtaking them in the process after this reported setback. Kenyon looks to be struggling to raise the required cash to take his bid any further, and that is a worrying sign in all honesty. Hopefully he can address this issue in the coming weeks, although a takeover before January is now unlikely. That will further worry fans with Rafa Benitez having to deal with so much uncertainty over funds with Ashley looking to sell on and therefore being unlikely to release big money.