A lot of Newcastle United fans have replied to a post from NUFC 360, which includes a link to an article from The Chronicle that lists a few targets that the Toon’s potential new owners had in mind in the event that the Saudi-backed takeover occurred.
Newcastle were the subject of a takeover bid from a consortium consisting of PIF, PCP Capital Partners, and the Reuben brothers.
Still, the bid was withdrawn on 30th July after the Premier League not having made a decision on it.
The Chronicle has revealed some of the targets that this consortium was thought to have had in mind for the club if the Premier League had approved their takeover.
Some of the names that the Toon were interested in included Ferran Torres and Nathan Ake, who have both signed for Manchester City; there are also claims that Gareth Bale and Ciro Immobile were targeted as well.
It is fair to say that this news has not gone down well with these Toon fans.
Do you think Newcastle would have signed any of these players?
No, not a chance
Yes, we could have
Mint ?
— TheClubFormerlyKnownAsNUFC (@heatonjake1892) October 6, 2020
Pain.
— ‘ (@nufcleoo) October 6, 2020
Erm no need
— Kieren Wilkinson (@KierenW6) October 6, 2020
Nothing like rubbing salt into the wounds ????
— nick entwisle (@NEntwisle) October 6, 2020
Instead, Newcastle spent just under £35m and brought in five first-team players, including Callum Wilson, who has had a fantastic start to life on Tyneside, with four goals in four Premier League games.
This post continued to draw the attention of the Toon fans, who don’t believe that their club would have signed any of these players.
I doubt Ake and Torres would’ve chosen us over Man City
— Jack (@jchaytor16) October 6, 2020
Tbf not one of them would have signed for us ahead of the clubs they’ve signed for
— Dayle (@DayleBarron) October 6, 2020
and they would’ve signed none of them, so it’s totally irrelevant
— joe (@nufcrichys) October 6, 2020
PIF, which was going to become the majority owners of the Toon is worth a serious amount of money, so if the takeover had been approved, maybe the Toon would have signed these players, but of course, we will never know.
However, the fate of the takeover is now in the hands of lawyers, and Ashley intends to force the deal through, so maybe one day, Newcastle will sign players of this calibre.
For now, though, many Newcastle fans feel that this article is causing them unnecessary pain.