A lot of Newcastle United fans have replied to a post from Mehrdad Ghodoussi that includes a photo of a press release from Saudi Arabia in June.
The press release details Saudi Arabia’s efforts to tackle piracy.
This post drew the attention of many Newcastle fans who begged for Ghodoussi to ‘come back’ because he is the husband of Amanda Staveley – whose Saudi-backed consortium withdrew its bid to take over Newcastle United last week.
Do you think the deal is still on?
Yes, they haven't given up yet
No, the Premier League are going to stop this from happening
We’ll keep fighting for you and you keep fighting for us @ghodoussi. They can’t hide forever
— ????? (@nufcsaintmax) August 5, 2020
We are fighting hard for you and Amanda, Mehrdad. Please don’t give up on us ??
— Toonfan (@ataylor1892) August 5, 2020
Looks like we’re still in the game…..
Interesting tweet.#NUFC #NUFCTakeover https://t.co/rcEsR7DaoR
— Mouth of the Tyne (@ToonMouthTyne) August 5, 2020
Come back Mehrdad ????
— Noah? (@NUFCNoah) August 5, 2020
We hope the deal can be done. All we want for our club is hope and the chance to compete. ????
— Mark Pickard (@MarkyPickard) August 5, 2020
Following the consortium pulling out of the deal to buy Newcastle last week, Staveley blamed the Premier League for the deal’s failure.
At the same time, Ghodoussi insisted that all members of the deal would come back if the Premier League decided it was going to accept this takeover, with an official verdict yet to be reached at the point of last Thursday’s breakdown.
Ghodoussi’s post continued to draw in Toon fans.
Have you seen the fight from our fan base? Amanda said it was up to us, we are fighting hard.
— Dan (@Danjazzyd) August 5, 2020
Come back Mehrdad, we’re fighting for this ???
— Jack #PremierLeagueIsCorrupt (@jchaytor16) August 5, 2020
Please don’t give up on us! We need you! ?????
— Tricky mags (@SheikhKhaledd) August 5, 2020
Since this deal collapsed last week, a petition has been launched that has collected over 80,000 signatures, demanding an independent investigation into why the deal failed.
There has also been political pressure applied, with many MPs supporting the movement and the chief executive of Newcastle City Council asking for a compromise from the PL to allow the takeover.
The Premier League has said nothing apart from a slight indication from Matt Slater that the piracy was the main problem.
This makes sense, but as Ghodoussi’s tweet shows, Saudi Arabia had launched a crackdown on piracy, so until the Premier League officially says something, it might remain unclear why this proposed takeover failed to go through.