The Newcastle Chronicle claim that the Bin Zayed Group have adopted a noticeably different stance towards the takeover in the past week.
After playing things out in public, including releasing two statements in a matter of days late last month, the BZG have not made a formal statement since – “even after Monochrome Acquisitions Ltd was registered as a new company last week.”
The Chronicle claim it could mean Shiekh Khaled moving away from playing the takeover out in public, which it claims “will go down well with Mike Ashley”.
OPINION
The Bin Zayed Group might not have released a formal statement since the end of last month but they haven’t gone completely silent. The Chronicle contacted them over the weekend and they replied with a simple “all good” as far as the takeover was going. Telegraph journalist Luke Edwards has previously claimed that Ashley doesn’t like people who negotiate in public, and that message might finally have got back to the BZG group. It’s a fine aspiration to keep fans in the loop and god knows they’re desperate to read about anything that might hasten Mike Ashley’s departure from the club, but big deals like this don’t happen overnight. So, after two statements from the BZG, fans became disillusioned when nothing happened immediately. The BZG said that nothing would happen until July and if that’s the case, staying silent in public is probably the best tactic. Keeping Ashley on side would be prudent too.