According to Mirror Sports, US media mogul Henry Mauriss is hoping Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund’s £300 million takeover of Newcastle United falls through as he readies a rival bid worth £350 million.
The American has been in talks with Magpies owner and chairman Mike Ashley since last year, but the Saudis are now huge favourites to buy the club and have already deposited a nonrefundable £17 million as the Premier League carries out its Directors’ and Owners’ test.
While the takeover has been widely tipped to go through, the kingdom’s human-rights records and piracy of Premier League football are both threatening its success.
Mauriss, owner of CEO of ClearTV, is waiting to see if the English top-flight will knock back the move by PIF, and the Mirror has been told that the Californian is ‘desperate to become Newcastle’s new owner’ and is tabling a ‘genuine bid’.
He is said to have been inspired by the transformation of Liverpool under FSG’s and fellow Americans John W Henry and Thomas Werner, and he has plans to oversee a similar transformation at St James’ Park, with a significant investment in the squad and academy on the cards.
Last week, BeIN sports’ Senior Football Anchor Richard Keys claimed that there is another bid on the table for Newcastle and that Ashley would prefer it to PIF’s.
“I know for a fact that there is another bid on the table for Newcastle. There has been for sometime. I thought it would come to a conclusion by Christmas, I thought it might come to a conclusion earlier in the New Year,” he said on The Keys and Grey Show.
“I still believe he would prefer the other bid to come to a successful conclusion.”
"I know for a fact there is another bid on the table…"@richardajkeys has news of another offer for Mike Ashley's Newcastle United!
Catch the full #KeysandGray Show online
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🎧 https://t.co/9jf3JU97Cb pic.twitter.com/112boz1Ib7— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) April 22, 2020
Could it be Mauriss’?
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