Luke Edwards has dropped a big claim on the potential takeover of Newcastle United as news emerged on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
The Lowdown: KSA on priority watch list
As per The Athletic journalist Matt Slater, the KSA are staying on the US government’s priority watch list for Intellectual Property (IP) theft for the third straight year.
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Slater claimed that this is ‘not a good look’ for the Saudis’ quest to prove they are taking digital piracy seriously, given that they want to invest in football, most notably the KSA group wanting to buy the St. James’ Park faithful off of the hands of Mike Ashley.
The Latest: Edwards reacts
Quoting the tweet from Slater, Daily Telegraph journalist Edwards has since given his reaction to the news, claiming that he does not think Ashley will win the pending arbitration case between him and the Premier League over the failed takeover in the North East by the KSA consortium.
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He also claimed that the takeover ‘collapsed ten months ago’ in his opinion, in other words saying that he cannot see a way back into the Tyneside club for the Saudis.
The Verdict: Takeover not done yet
While the latest news with the KSA is alarming, it does not mean that a takeover of the Magpies can be ruled out just yet.
The result of the arbitration hearing will likely give a much clearer picture over the direction of where the potential deal is heading, and Ashley would not have pursued with the case if he was not at least somewhat confident of winning it.
Still, even if the Toon do not end up winning the case, then they still have the anti-competition lawsuit that they launched separately against the top flight to fall back on, which could present the potential takeover with a new pathway.
Nonetheless, Ashley and NUFC will not have given up hope of winning arbitration just yet, as the legal battle with the division looks set to be an intriguing one.
In other news, find out which ace Callum Wilson dubbed ‘unbelievable’ Newcastle are eyeing here!
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