The Bin Zayed Group never had the money to buy Newcastle United this summer, according to Chronicle journalist Mark Douglas.
The Dubai-based consortium were heavily linked with a move for the Toon Army earlier this year, but rumours eventually fizzled out after a fraught and largely speculative takeover process.
And Douglas is of the opinion that the group never had the capabilities to get a deal done in the first place.
Speaking on the Everything is Black and White podcast, he said: “Bin Zayed have questions to answer themselves, like why did they say they were further one? Why did they say they had a good chance?
“I’ve made contact with them over the summer, they owe people some explanations here.
“I don’t think Bin Zayed had the money, I don’t think they ever had the money.”
OPINION
Douglas is absolutely right to suggest that the Bin Zayed Group owe Newcastle fans answers, but there has to come a point where this whole saga is left in the past. That’s not to say that we are at that stage just yet, and there is definitely a large amount of accountability that has to be faced up to by those in charge on Tyneside. The fact that the BZG broke the story when they clearly had no means of completing a deal is bad enough, but at that stage it should have been up to the board to step in and clarify to fans exactly what was happening. Instead, they remained completely silent, and in doing so created a confusing shambles that was entirely avoidable. Nonetheless, the BZG must shoulder their share of the blame too. The name will live on for a while longer on Tyneside, but here’s hoping that in time, and hopefully with a proper takeover completed at some point, they can be consigned to the annals of history.
