Turkish businessman Murat Ulker, worth £2.9bn, reportedly plotting Newcastle United bid

Follow us on Google Discover

Newcastle United are up for sale – and Turkish businessman Murat Ulker has been linked with a bid.

Newcastle United confirmed on their official website on Monday that the club is up for sale – and one man has already been linked with a move to buy the club.

After years of discontent from Magpies fans, owner Mike Ashley has decided that now is the right time to sell Newcastle United, with supporters hopeful of a bright new era.

Whilst a sale may take some time, Tom McLoughlin – a representative of the Ulker family – has told the London Evening Standard that Turkish tycoon Murat Ulker is plotting a bid to buy Newcastle and make them a top six Premier League team.

“The Ülker family have substantial assets and significant investments already in the UK,” said McLoughlin. “We understand football and our initial specific target would be to make Newcastle a solid top six club and a permanent feature in Europe with a popular local and worldwide following,” he added.

Newcastle fans may not be too familiar with Ulker, but Forbes suggest that his net worth is a whopping $3.9billion (£2.9billion) – which should immediately excite supporters.

Rafael Benitez could get considerable backing from the Turkish businessman, who has made his fortune as the chairman of Yildiz Holding, Turkey’s biggest food group.

Ulker and Yildiz Holding swooped in 2014 to purchase United Biscuits, the maker of Digestives, Hobnobs and even Jaffa Cakes, paying a whopping £2billion to add them to his portfolio, whilst merging four companies to create pladis, one of the biggest confectionary companies in the world.

Whilst that may be a somewhat unconventional source of his finance, Ulker does have ties in sport too, having helped establish basketball team Ulkerspor in 1993, before disbanding in 2006, enjoying glory with four league title wins before striking up a link with Fenerbahce.

Ulker has also provided support for Fenerbahce’s football team by sponsoring their stadium in a 10-year deal, meaning he is close to football already, which may ease some fears from Newcastle fans.

There is still plenty to do before Ulker can buy Newcastle, whilst Damian Spellman has claimed on Twitter that Ulker isn’t interested, but he could be a fascinating buyer for the Magpies.