Soccer Football - Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle United - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - September 27, 2020 Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley in the stands Pool via REUTERS/Andrew Boyers EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.
A football finance guru has dropped a claim on the potential takeover of Newcastle United by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group.
Speaking to Football Insider, Kieran Maguire has claimed that Mike Ashley would have to peg down his initial asking price to sell the St. James’ Park club if they were to see themselves relegated from the Premier League down to the EFL Championship:
“The price that has been discussed with regards to the PIF takeover was £300m.
“Mike Ashley was originally asking for about £350m but on the back of Covid, he’s had to drop the price. If they are out of the Premier League, there’s no guarantee you’re getting back first season.
“Anybody buying the club this summer if Newcastle were in the Championship is immediately looking at £60m less in broadcast money and no guarantee the club is going to return the following season.
“I think he would have to knock off around a third of his asking price, to about £200m. The reason I say that is because if I was a buyer then why would I buy Newcastle in the Championship when I can buy Derby County who are allegedly going for £60m?
“I think the chances of being taken over in the Championship would be hurt. In the Championship, you’d pay a big premium because it’s Newcastle but you’d be thinking why not buy Derby for a fraction of what I could spend on Newcastle.”
Newcastle in danger of relegation
After their 1-1 home draw against Wolves on Saturday night, in where an opener from Jamaal Lascelles was cancelled out by Ruben Neves, Steve Bruce’s men found themselves dangerously lingering just above the drop zone in 17th spot on 26 points, before Fulham’s away trip to Crystal Palace on Sunday lunchtime.
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If the North East club were to find themselves relegated, then a Championship team would surely be less attractive to the prospective buyers than an EPL one.
It may also be a question for Ashley as to whether he would want to sell the Tyneside club for potentially much less than his asking price as well, and whether he would then hold off until the Magpies were back in the top flight again.
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Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see what does happen with the potential bid if the Toon were to find themselves relegated.
In other news, find out whose display was slammed by Lee Ryder versus Wolves here!
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