Nikos Dabizas comments on his relationship with Newcastle fans

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Newcastle United’s takeover has been dragging on now, but there is real hope that a deal will be done in the very near future.

The Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, Amanda Staveley and the Reuben brothers have been pursuing a £300million takeover, but it hasn’t been completed yet.

The Premier League need to sanction the move, and fans are left waiting. Mike Ashley’s time at the club looks to be ending, with an exciting new era on the horizon.

Newcastle would have big money to spend if the deal goes through, and whilst managers and players have been linked, establishing a strong backroom team would be a priority too.

For instance, Newcastle should be looking for a director of football. A few names have been linked, including ex-Magpies defender Nikos Dabizas.

The Chronicle claim that contact has been made between Dabizas and the potential owners. Dabizas would ‘welcome any talks’ about a return to the club.

Currently director of football at Panathinaikos, Dabizas racked up more than 100 appearances for Newcastle, and famously scored the winner in the 1-0 victory over bitter rivals Sunderland in 2002.

That made him a hero at Newcastle, and he has now told Sportime in Greece that Bobby Robson made it abundantly clear to new players how important it was to beat Sunderland.

Dabizas added that it’s ‘unbelievable’ to see how much Newcastle fans love him just for that goal against Sunderland, as it gets brought up every time he returns to Tyneside – and a full-time comeback may be on the cards.

“The matches against Sunderland did not have a special treatment, but he made sure, if we had new players in the team, to talk publicly about how different this match is. He wanted them to know,” said Dabizas. “He also wanted people to show that they care. To show from their first expression, from the first tackle how much we want the victory.”

“And we older people had to talk to the younger ones and explain to them that it’s more than a game. Every time I go to Newcastle, what they remember is the goal I scored in a derby. It’s unbelievable how much the fans identify with an opponent,” he added.