The Chronicle’s Ciaran Kelly has been speaking on the latest episode of the Everything is Black and White Podcast and revealed his thoughts on the failed takeover of Newcastle United.
On 30th July, it was announced that Amanda Staveley’s Saudi-backed consortium had pulled out of a deal to buy the Toon from Mike Ashley.
However, since then, it has emerged that Staveley, the Reuben brothers, PIF and Ashley are all committed to the deal, and Kelly does not think that this saga is over just yet.
“It’s been a really strange week, because I don’t think we feel that it’s dead, and while we’re obviously really keen not to maintain any false hope, you do have all the parties – whether it’s Mike Ashley, whether it’s the PIF, whether it’s the Reuben brothers, whether it’s Amanda Staveley – they’re all kind of singing from the same hymn sheet, so it’s quite intriguing, also very confusing.”
So, while Kelly does not want to raise false hopes of this deal coming back from the dead, he does not think that we can rule that out.
Do you think this takeover is dead?
No, it could still happen
Yes, it is time to move on
TIF Thoughts…
In the aftermath of the consortium withdrawing its offer, Staveley blamed the Premier League.
Lee Charnley released a statement on the behalf of Ashley claiming that the current Toon owner is still 100% committed to the takeover, so while that feeling from Ashley and the members of the consortium remains, it is perhaps premature to rule the deal out completely.
However, the focus in terms of a takeover now should be on Henry Mauriss, because he has a clear run at buying the Toon.
He has been asked to provide a deposit and proof that he has the funds, and he has also been given a deadline of 14th August to have agreed a deal with Ashley, so if he can follow through with these things, then Newcastle might still have a new owner in the near future.
Therefore, while the Staveley-led consortium’s takeover might not be dead, Mauriss could swoop in and take the club from Ashley ahead of them.