Luke Edwards has dropped a damning claim on the potential takeover of Newcastle United after news emerged involving the Premier League.
The Lowdown: Premier League take KSA off watchlist
As per the Press Association (via Sky Sports), the English top flight have made the decision not to call for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to be kept on the US government's piracy watchlist for 2021.
Mike Ashley has drawn some encouragement from this, as he remains determined to sell the St. James' Park faithful to the KSA group.
Sources from within the consortium have said that they remain committed to their takeover bid if the arbitration case between the North East club and the PL goes in the former's favour.
The Latest: Edwards on takeover
After the news broke out, Edwards, a Daily Telegraph journalist who has been following the whole takeover saga closely, gave his instant reaction.
He claims that 'confidence has never been a problem' with regards to those trying to buy the Tyneside club, adding that 'nothing material has changed', and that the deal is 'no closer to being done than it was 11 months ago'.
Edwards concluded by claiming with regards to the takeover: 'I don't think it's going to happen'.
The Verdict: Arbitration will paint better picture
Even though the news that Ashley has been given some encouragement after the Premier League decided not to call for the KSA to be put on the watchlist is certainly a positive, Edwards is right in saying that little has changed with regards to actual concrete developments for getting the takeover back on track.
The KSA consortium have always been confident that they can still get a deal done, regardless of the news that broke out, and ultimately arbitration should paint a better picture over the direction of where it is heading.
A positive result for the Magpies would bring the potential resurrection of the bid one step closer, but likewise a negative one may see the takeover dead and buried for good.
In other news, find out what interesting takeover revelation has been shared here!