George Caulkin has been speaking on the latest episode of Pod On The Tyne and revealed his thoughts on the failed takeover of Newcastle United.
Last Thursday, Amanda Staveley’s Saudi-backed consortium announced that it had withdrawn its offer to buy the Toon from Mike Ashley.
Caulkin discussed all the fallout from the failed takeover and also revealed that the consortium was told on two occasions, albeit not officially, that their deal would be approved.
He said: “Sources very close to the consortium were saying yesterday [Thursday] that they had had the unofficial word from the Premier League on two occasions before the deal went into the Premier League, and again not long after it did, that they would be getting approval – and something has changed.”
The deal was submitted to the PL in April, but it took until 30th July before the consortium withdrew its offer, so it would appear that the circumstances surrounding the bid had changed.
If the Premier League gave an unofficial yes, should they have approved the takeover?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts…
Since the deal collapsed, Newcastle fans have launched a petition to get an independent investigation into why the takeover failed.
If the consortium was told unofficially that its deal would be accepted before they sent it to the Premier League, then we can assume they were given these assurances before claims on piracy and human rights emerged.
Therefore, it could be argued that these issues changed the Premier League’s minds. Certainly, from the information provided in a piece produced by The Athletic’s Matt Slater, piracy was the main reason the Premier League could not pass the takeover, though in the end, it was the buying side that pulled out.
The fallout could continue over the coming days and weeks, but it is intriguing to know that on two apparent occasions, the Premier League unofficially said that the deal would be approved.