Newcastle fans fume as Mike Ashley bankrolls House of Fraser

Yesterday was a strange day for Newcastle fans. The club brought in one final signing of the window in the form of Swansea City’s Federico Fernandez, however, the window as a whole was a disappointment for the fans, who expected a lot from their club. Instead, less than 24 hours after the window closed, the news has broken that Mike Ashley has spent £90 million on House of Fraser.

Mike Ashley has bought struggling retail outlet House of Fraser for £90m.

"The House of Fraser Arena sounds lovely," I hear him whisper to Lee Charnley.

— NUFC360 (@NUFC360) August 10, 2018

Some Newcastle fans have been joking about the naming rights of St James Park following their owner’s purchase of the retail outlet but whilst the jokes may be shortlived, the anger at the situation isn’t. The fans expected a big summer of spending from their club in the market with TV money and money generated from player sales expected to be put towards incomings. That, though, never happened.

Whilst the fans were treated to seven new signings, the club failed to shell out over £10 million on a single player. Yoshinori Muto was the club’s most expensive purchase at just under £10 million but overall, the fans won’t be at all pleased with the lack of ambition that Mike Ashley has shown in the club. Leaving a world class manager like Rafa Benitez to wheel and deal in the market will never go down well with the fans and it seems like just a matter of time until the fans force Ashley out of the historic club.

You can read the Magpies’ verdict on Ashley bankrolling House of Fraser here: