The Bin Zayed Group have been left angry after Newcastle owner Mike Ashley tried to change the terms of a potential takeover, but they are still interested in a deal, according to the Chronicle.
Journalist Neil Mitchell made these claims and also said that the BZG had been naive in the way they conducted themselves.
“As for the Bin Zayed Group, have they gone away?” asked Mitchell. “No is what I have been told but this summer has certainly been highly embarrassing for them and Sheikh Khaled.
“They are angry, too. I am quite sure some of that anger is at themselves in part, but also at Mike Ashley using the deal stagnating to try and change terms.
“In his interview with the Daily Mail he said that an ‘extra 10 million here or there’ should not be a problem if the group were as rich as they said they were and that would match information that has leaked locally that a delay in the proof of funds process gave him an opportunity to try and renegotiate.”
TiF Verdict
Mitchell is right about one thing. He said, “There are good ways to conduct yourself regionally but it is clear in international terms they [BZG] were naive at best, if of good intention. What works in this region doesn’t cut it anymore in the higher echelons of the footballing world.”
Ashley isn’t one for doing big deals in public and the constant information that was coming from the BZG/Newcastle talks didn’t feel at all right.
Much was made of them, though, with one statement from the BZG saying that terms had been agreed, leading to excitement from Newcastle fans that Ashley was on his way out.
That didn’t happen, Rafa Benitez left, Steve Bruce arrived and Newcastle broke their transfer record for striker Joelinton.
It’s not worked out brilliantly yet. Newcastle are hovering above the relegation zone and fans had to endure a 0-0 draw with Brighton last time out where the visitors from the south coast boasted 71% possession. That’s about as far removed from the excitement of the Kevin Keegan era as you could imagine.
Will a takeover happen? Ashley can’t go on forever but it appears to be no closer now that it was in the early summer.
Athletic journalist George Caulkin maintains there are still interested parties but that Newcastle fans would be better off forgetting about it and that “if it happens … it’ll be sudden”.
That seems like good advice, although the football isn’t going that much better for beleaguered Newcastle fans who surely deserve something better to happen soon.