A lot of Newcastle United fans have flocked to a post from The Chronicle that includes a link to an article on their website about Mike Ashley and Henry Mauriss.
The piece states that Ashley has been left baffled by Mauriss after he ran up a legal bill worth £500,000 and that the Toon owner is confused why talks went so far between the two parties before Amanda Staveley’s Saudi-backed consortium withdrew their bid only for nothing to have really happened since.
It is then claimed that the American has a clear shot at buying the Toon but he has made ‘little to no progress since the collapse of PIF’s bid.’
This has drawn a reaction from these Toon fans who are convinced that Mauriss is not a real bidder for the club.
Do you think Ashley should be baffled?
No, Mauriss was never a real contender
Yes, he thought there was something to it
He has no reason to be mystified – what serious investor would materially progress beyond initial due diligence in current circumstances – total theatre – Owner needs to create a conducive environment for sale if he wants serious investors to progress.
— Antony Watson (@Wattoant) August 24, 2020
By not existing
— METZ117 (@METZ117) August 24, 2020
If PIF had exclusivity why would any other party enter legal dialogue??? Something doesn’t make sense !
— Phil Jensen (@pjen0505) August 24, 2020
He was probably paid by the Qataries. There were links to the Qataries when this story first broke. If the PL believed there was a rival bid then it was probably easier for them to dismiss the Saudi bid as they believed the pressure would be off them if someone else bought it.
— lee mc (@leemcder) August 24, 2020
When Staveley’s group announced they had withdrawn their offer to buy Newcastle Mauriss believed he was in pole position to buy the Toon; however, the last anyone heard anything about his bid, apart from this piece, was that Ashley was growing frustrated with Mauriss.
There were also claims that Ashley was preparing to release a statement that would have labeled Mauriss and the Bellagraph Nova Group as timewasters, but that has not happened yet.
This post led to some Toon fans mocking Luke Edwards after he claimed that Mauriss was genuine and also published the report about Mauriss believing he was in pole position to buy the club, he has since defended himself but that has not stopped these Toon fans having a go.
@LukeEdwardsTele can probably shed some light on what happened to Henry since he’s best mates with him
— W1LL14M (@william19368399) August 24, 2020
Not as mystified as poor Luke who spent 8 months on it ?
— Matthew (@JB4t00n) August 24, 2020
The Toon start the 2020/21 season away at West Ham United and it is looking increasingly likely that they will start the season under the ownership of Ashley.
It seems that Mauriss has moved very slowly since the Staveley deal collapsed and he has left Ashley baffled and frustrated, but many Toon fans don’t believe he is a real bidder anyway, so they are not surprised by this.