Duncan Castles has been speaking on the latest episode of The Transfer Window podcast, discussing the failed takeover of Newcastle United.
Castles spent a bit of time talking about what went wrong for the proposed takeover and what could happen next.
This came after Amanda Staveley’s consortium pulled out of the deal to buy the Toon on 30th July.
Castles tried to dissect what had happened and spent a bit of time on what the Premier League asked Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to do in the negotiations, and relayed what Staveley had said about the situation.
Following the deal’s collapse on Thursday, Staveley insisted (as per Chronicle Live): “The Premier League wanted the country, Saudi, to become a director of the football club. That’s what this is about.
“They were effectively saying ‘PIF wouldn’t be the ultimate beneficial owner, we believe it’s actually the government; therefore we want the country to become a director’, which puts them in an impossible situation. They feel they weren’t wanted by the Premier League.”
Castles then proceeded to make his own claim on Staveley’s perception of the deal’s failure, stating: “My information is that that is a proposal the Premier League came up with quite a long way through this process of examining credentials.
“They were not convinced that the ownership would end with PIF and were not convinced that the leader of Saudi Arabia would not be involved in the Newcastle project, which is what the buyers were saying.
“They were saying it was a commercial venture; it was the sovereign wealth fund, the Saudi government would not have a direct role on the board.
“I am told that when the buyers came back with those answers, the Premier League did not accept them and eventually came up with this proposal, which is something I have never heard before, that Saudi Arabia formally became a director of the football club, which is a fascinating strategy and proposal.”
So, it seems as if the Premier League wanted Saudi Arabia to be confirmed as directors of the club, which, as Castles reveals later on, he feels would have allowed the Premier League to reject the deal.
Do you think this was a plan to fail the deal?
Yes, seems like something the Premier League would do
No, was just a way to resolve the takeover
TIF Thoughts…
In her interview with The Athletic, Staveley revealed that it would have been ‘ridiculous’ to request the PIF to essentially relinquish control and for a country to be a director of a football club, and that PIF had provided assurances that they were separate from the Saudi government.
Castles’ suspicions over the PL possibly using this as an excuse to fail the deal seems like it would have been a sly move, and it could be why the consortium pulled out, but as of yet, we do not know the full story.
Since the consortium pulled out, a petition has been started demanding an investigation into this failed takeover.
After listening to what Castles has said about it, then you can understand why many Toon fans are demanding an investigation.