The chief executive of INEOS, Bob Ratcliffe, has revealed that they considered a potential takeover of Newcastle United and Chelsea this summer.
Ratcliffe admitted that the company researched the Premier League duo but came to the conclusion that a top-flight English side doesn’t offer good value for money.
The chemicals company eventually ended up finalising a take over of French club Nice for £88.7million, and Ratcliffe shared to BBC Radio 5 Live, as quoted by the Daily Mail, that any take over of Newcastle would have cost significantly more.
“In fairness, you look at Newcastle, and we looked at a lot of clubs in the Premiership, after the sort of noise around Chelsea, people talked to us about a high proportion of clubs,” he said.
“Obviously people talked to us about Newcastle as well. But again you come back to a valuation in the hundreds of millions and it’s very difficult to contemplate.”
Mike Ashley remains in charge of the Magpies at this moment, with the Chronicle reporting that the club are still up for sale.
OPINION
With the ongoing saga regarding any potential takeovers of Newcastle, it will not be good reading for Magpies’ fans that a company considered making a move but decided against it in the end. INEOS clearly put themselves first in the deal, and that would suggest that they wouldn’t have been the right fit for the club anyway. Ashley has spent years putting himself first in regards to his money, and that has led to years of discomfort in regards to his relationship with the fans. What the Magpies need right now is a company or businessman that is willing to come in and splash the cash on everything at the club from top to bottom. Yes, there is no hiding the fact that everything is a business and cash flow will be at the top of everyone’s agenda when owning a club, but Newcastle have been in the dark for too long and their next owner must put a stop to that trend created by Ashley.
