Newcastle United’s takeover confusion has continued into December.
According to The Times, Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has been given a two-week deadline to finalise a deal with Amanda Staveley and the PCP Capital Partners.
Back in October, Ashley put the club up for sale as he attempts t get out of St. James’ Park, more than 10 years since taking the reins on Tyneside.
Ashley has been wholly unpopular with Newcastle fans during his tenure, having overseen two relegations from the Premier League, inexplicably sacked Chris Hughton and backed Alan Pardew, and failed to back Rafael Benitez with necessary transfer funds.
Newcastle fans were excited when Ashley put the club up for sale, believing a better future was on the horizon – but more than six weeks on, the Magpies are no closer to a takeover.
The Mirror recently reported that Amanda Staveley and the PCP Capital Partners had offered £300million to buy Newcastle, but that bid has not been accepted nor improved upon.
Now, The Times claim that the deal is actually worth £250million up front, some way short of the £380million Ashley wants, with Staveley now worried about how long a deal is taking.
It’s stated that Staveley has now set a two-week deadline for Ashley to accept a deal, as she wants to take control before the end of the January transfer window, and with the Premier League needing a 30-day ratification period, it’s imperative that Staveley gets a deal done quickly.
Whether Ashley will be quite so keen to take a lower price for the sake of doing a deal before the end of 2017 remains to be seen, given his reputation as a shrewd businessman.
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