Sky Sports News presenter Pete Graves has suggested that Peter Kenyon’s takeover bid for Newcastle United is still alive, despite reports to the contrary.
The former Manchester United and Chelsea chief executive has made an offer of around £200 million for the Tyneside club, is some way short of Mike Ashley’s asking price of £300 million, and the difference in valuation had looked to kill the deal off, according to the Sun.
Posting on his personal Twitter account, Graves, who works as an anchor for Sky Sports and is a known Newcastle fan, disputed these claims, however, and suggested that the deal was in fact ‘100% not dead’.
It is reported that Kenyon has been working with American Rockerfeller Capital Management to try and find the extra funds needed to secure a deal.
It's 100% not dead https://t.co/ot6UOS3LYp
— Pete Graves (@PeteGravesTV) December 30, 2018
OPINION
Newcastle fans will be ecstatic to hear any suggestion that the possibility of Mike Ashley leaving the club is not dead in the water. At the moment, all signs point to another false dawn, but the fact that a name of Graves’ calibre suggests that things are not done and dusted just yet should be a source of some comfort for the Toon Army faithful. The likelihood of Ashley selling up in time for a fresh face to take the helm in January is looking all but non-existent, but hopes will remain fairly high that some kind of deal can be thrashed out by the end of the season. The question still remains, however, as to whether or not Ashley will put his hand in his pocket this January, and the worry will be that if he doesn’t invest, Kenyon might end up pursuing a Championship club. Nobody wants that to happen, but it would be typical of Ashley to let his stubbornness ruin the Magpies one last time.
