Former Newcastle United defender and Sky Sports pundit Steve Howey has questioned the timing of owner Mike Ashley’s return.
The Sports Direct tycoon has attended three of the Magpies’ last fixtures against Leicester City, Crystal Palace and Manchester United, but Howey thinks that it is too much of a coincidence that several prospective buyers have emerged at the same time.
Howey, who has featured for Sky Sports as a pundit on numerous occasions, even pondered whether the United faithful would think that these events are just a PR stunt, and if Ashley really wanted to sell the club, he would have done so by now.
“It seems again a bit of a coincidence that the owner turns up for a couple of games and takes the players and manager out for something to eat,” he told Sky Sports‘ ‘The Debate‘.
“Now there seems to be [more rumours] – there was a link to some Saudi investors, then Peter Kenyon and now there’s these ‘wealthy investors’ from the US. And it seems a bit of a coincidence that is now coming out.
“The fans are thinking is it a PR stunt? If you really want to sell the club and you have people supposedly interested, surely a deal could be done.”
OPINION
This is a rather bizarre claim to make, but when it comes to Mike Ashley, it would not be surprising. The fact that he has suddenly emerged out of nowhere to attend games and take the players and the manager out for a meal is quite strange when you come to think of it. It would not be a shock in the slightest if Howey is right and it does turn out to be a PR stunt – as far as Ashley is concerned, anything goes. It would be rather sad if it did turn out to be a stunt, because hope was no doubt starting to emerge after his appearances. Howey is right though – with the number of interested parties, you would have thought that Ashley would have sold the club by now if he really wanted to. It gives a slight indication that the may not be as keen as first thought – but we will just have to wait and see.
