Newcastle United

Newcastle United: Fans react to latest claim on takeover

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Image for Newcastle United: Fans react to latest claim on takeover

Newcastle United supporters have been reacting on Twitter after a post provided an update on the club’s protracted takeover talks. 

The Magpies’ current owner Mike Ashley agreed to sell the St. James’ Park outfit in a £300m deal to a consortium backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) last summer before they pulled out after failing the Premier League’s fit and proper directors and owners test.

However, retail entrepreneur Ashley has been locked in a court case ever since attempting to push the deal over the line, and a report in Arab News has revealed the latest developments on the proposed takeover.

According to the Middle East outlet, sources close to the negotiations are confident a conclusion will soon be reached: “People close to the takeover – which was formally withdrawn by PIF and its allies but which remains informally on the table and wanted more than ever by Newcastle owner Mike Ashley – say the English arbitration court judging the dispute will reach a decision in the summer.

“They also expect it to go Ashley’s way, and for Newcastle to be majority-owned by the PIF before the start of next season.”

However, the fans clearly don’t share the same level of optimism after months of indecision.

“Don’t really believe it considering all the news from that corner of the world saying it was done last summer”

@StagnatingNUFC

“Sorry, 18 months of this garbage is enough for me to not even entertain this. It will be over when it’s over and I will not get excited a moment sooner.”

@nufc_seb

“Heard this for over a year now..not believing a thing until we have official confirmation”

@Nameless96863577

“Means nothing. Both sides expect it’ll go their way. If they didn’t attribution would be pretty pointless.”

@BenjawiBen

“Heard this all before!”

@greatballsofire

“EPL equally as confident of their case, so I beg to differ. We can all guess but it’s no more than that, a guess.”

@DavidMonks1

Question marks have been raised for some time about whether the PIF would be suitable owners given Saudi Arabia’s questionable human rights record, and with football fans showing they can still make a difference in the modern era with their response to the Super League plans, perhaps the Newcastle supporters shouldn’t be accepting of such controversial owners should this takeover finally come to pass.

In other news: ‘He’s devastated’, ‘Utterly clueless’ – Lots of NUFC fans fume as Bruce quot

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