George Caulkin has suggested that there is no reason to be optimistic about renewed reports that Peter Kenyon is keen on taking over Newcastle United.
A piece from the Daily Mail on Thursday evening suggested that the businessman, who has previously been linked with a move for the Toon Army, has made a fresh £300 million move to buy the club.
But Caulkin has advised fans to remain grounded in their expectations.
Writing in a Q&A for The Athletic, he said: “Personally, I don’t think there’s any reason for optimism about this – except to say that it demonstrates there are people still interested in buying the club.
“It doesn’t strike me as a realistic bid for the club – IE it reeks of a lack of money, the document itself is full of holes and there’s the fact it’s been released / leaked at all.
“Just to add to this, my strong understanding is that Ashley is very keen – especially after the events of this summer – for any possible negotiations to be kept under wraps. That tells me this ‘deal’ is not a viable runner.”
Is a takeover likely to happen?
Honestly, there are few reporters with a better handle of the situation at St. James’ Park than Caulkin, and if he is suggesting that caution should be exercised, then chances are, this deal is a no-goer.
Already, as reported by the Sun, it has been suggested that this new bid from Kenyon has hit a snag, and it’s difficult to see how Ashley – a famously stubborn negotiator – will roll over this time when he hasn’t so often in the past.
The Sports Director owner himself even suggested in an interview with the Daily Mail that it was Kenyon who had ruined his faith in a sale being made any time soon.
Don’t forget, this is not the first time that Kenyon has made a move for the Toon Army, and his last move was left dead in the water over an inability to meet Ashley’s well-documented £350 million asking price, as per The Sun.
The fact that Kenyon is reportedly approaching this fresh attempt with a £300 million figure doesn’t bode well for his chances, nor do some of the finer details of the rumour.
For one thing, as reported by The Sun, the document that accompanies this latest bid seems to suggest that current Toon boss Steve Bruce has had “unparalleled success in Europe”, despite him having only reached the Europa League group stage play-off stage once in his career.
In fact, that feels a lot more like the sort of statement that would have been suited to ex-manager Rafa Benitez, who has won a Champions League, a Europa League, and a UEFA Cup.
As such, there is a suspicion that this deal is in fact nothing new and is instead a lazy hodge-podge cobbled together from remnants of the former bid.
Furthermore, the fact that the bid has been leaked to media doesn’t exactly sound promising either.
As Caulkin himself suggests, Ashley is eager to keep negotiations as clandestine as possible until the latest possible moment.
The fact that we are hearing about Kenyon’s latest attempt when there is still such a long way to go would seemingly suggest that it has very little chance of happening.