Telegraph journalist Luke Edwards shared his theory on why Newcastle United haven’t been snapped up for £350million.
The North-East reporter appeared on talkSPORT on Friday to claim Peter Kenyon’s bid to takeover Newcastle, which was reported by the Daily Mail, was unacceptable for Magpies owner Mike Ashley in its current form.
Edwards then went on to claim that he believes the asking price for Newcastle is £350million and as long as you pay that amount and have proof of funds then Ashley would happily sell the club to you.
However, the Telegraph journalist then added that when you consider it would take north of £500million to potentially turn Newcastle into a top-eight side, the club is not attractive to the kind of people who’d have that sort of money when you consider they’re a bottom-half Premier League team.
“I think the asking price is £350million, if you were to go to Mike Ashley here’s £350million, here’s proof of funds, he’d go the club is yours, it’s that simple,” said Edwards on talkSPORT (13:28, Friday, September 27th).
“But no one for a variety of reasons has been able to do that.
“The problem is if you pay £350million for a football club which is in the bottom half of the table, relegation-threatened club like Newcastle, you’re going to need £500million to try and get it into a top-eight club. Probably more than that even? What did it cost Manchester City to win their first Premier League, a billion, and we’re talking years in advance of that.
“There is value for money there, but you’ve got to be super-super wealthy to consider it and I think that’s the problem.
“They’re just not that attractive to that kind of elite billionaire or sovereign states as you have to spend so much after you’ve found the £350million to buy them in order to turn them into a top-eight team.
“And as we’ve seen with Everton, you could spend £350million on your squad and basically standstill in the Premier League.”
OPINION
The mystery surrounding why Newcastle hasn’t been sold, makes a lot more sense based on Edwards’ theory. While £350million doesn’t seem a lot for a party that would be considering buying a football club, when you consider that the new owner would want the Magpies to be competing in the top-half of the Premier League, they’re going to need a lot of investment. The Magpies have a squad littered with quality currently, see Fabian Schar, Issac Hayden, Miguel Almiron and Joelinton, but they are still a few players short of being a side guaranteed of finishing in the top-10. In fact, ahead of their clash with Leicester City on Sunday, the Magpies currently sit 17th and look to be in the relegation battle this season. The only way to instantly transform their fortunes if you’re a new owner arriving would be to spend big in the transfer market, and you’d have to continue to do that for many seasons. This is especially when you consider the Magpies’ academy. The only recent success stories to come out Newcastle’s academy in recent years are Paul Dummett and Sean Longstaff, with the latter only breaking through into the first-team last season.
