Newcastle United journalist George Caulkin has shared some insight into a potential future takeover of the club.
This comes as Caulkin recently made an appearance on The Athletic’s Ornstein & Chapman Podcast where he spoke about the latest news concerning the Tyneside club.
On the subject of a potential takeover of the club in the near future, Caulkin had this to say on the matter.
He said: “Things have definitely shifted. We don’t necessarily know the reason for it, because Mike Ashley never speaks – and the club never speak. In terms of the rest of it, I’ve discounted all other ‘takeover attempts’.
“I don’t see anybody else being in the running, aside from the majority Saudi-fronted Amanda Staveley consortium. We know that they’ve withdrawn, but at the same time, they’ve all reaffirmed their commitment to the takeover, as indeed has Ashley, through a statement from Lee Charnley. And there’s obviously stuff going on in the background after that extraordinary, and really very welcome, outpouring of emotion and communication from Newcastle fans trying to get answers from the Premier League, pushing for politicians to say stuff and to make contact.
“I also think that that should stay behind the scenes, or until there’s a resolution either positive or negative, because I think one of the things that’s been really corrosive to this whole process is the fact it’s been so public.”
Do you expect another Saudi bid to be made anytime soon?
Yes
No
Back in July, it was revealed that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, PCP Capital Partners and Reuben Brothers had withdrawn their interest in buying the club from current owner Mike Ashley after originally putting their £300 million bid in back in April.
According to the statement they released in July, they claimed that they withdrew their interest because ‘the prolonged process under the current circumstances coupled with global uncertainty has rendered the potential investment no longer commercially viable’.
Since that point, many Newcastle fans called for the Premier League to explain why they failed to come to an answer regarding the result of the Owners’ and Directors’ Test of the proposed takeover. Eventually, they got an answer after politician Chi Onwurah received a response from Premier League CEO Richard Masters after asking for clarity over the situation.
TIF Thoughts…
According to what Caulkin has said, despite the bid being withdrawn, the parties involved in the proposed takeover are still interested in making a deal regarding another takeover attempt.
At this moment in time, it is unclear as to when another potential bid will be put together again in another attempt to take the club off Ashley’s hands, so the Newcastle fans will just have to sit tight and wait and see.