Luke Edwards has provided an update in regards to Newcastle United’s proposed takeover.
What’s the latest Newcastle takeover news?
Football Insider recently claimed there was hope behind the scenes that the Mike Ashley era would soon be over and the Press Association (via Sky Sports) suggested the Sports Direct mogul had been encouraged that he would finally get the green light to sell the club to Saudi Arabian investors.
However, Edwards took to Twitter to suggested that confidence between the buyer and seller had never been an issue and that any takeover was no closer now. In a follow up tweet, he revealed that he personally didn’t think it would happen.
Should we be surprised?
Probably not.
The takeover saga has dragged on for so long, you’d be forgiven for thinking we’ve been here before. Indeed, there are only so many times you can be told the weather will change before you stop looking at the sky.
Still, it is not up to one person to tell fans how to feel and, given the year or so we’ve all had, perhaps that even slight hope of a brighter future (valid questions about sportswashing aside) is something to cling onto.
To say the club need taking over is an understatement of course. Finances are already looking tight and Steve Bruce himself was said to have doubts about whether or not he could feasibly improve this side while working on a relatively shoe-string budget. Given the run Newcastle went on between December and March, the idea of relying on largely the same squad and merely hoping neither Callum Wilson or Allan Saint-Maximin get injured again is a hugely worrying one.
What has Mike Ashley said about the takeover?
Speaking after the HMRC ended an investigation in the club’s operations, Ashley appeared to urge the Premier League to let the takeover go through.
“After four years of the club being subjected to this investigation, I am pleased that the criminal investigation has now been discontinued,” Ashley told Sky Sports (via The Athletic).
“It is now time for the dark forces that are preventing this football club from becoming the powerhouse that the fans deserve, to step aside.”
