Newcastle takeover: Alan Shearer breaks silence on £300m Saudi deal with six-word post
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Newcastle United appear to be on the verge of finally being taken over by a Saudi Arabian-backed consortium. Reports suggest the Premier League could approve the £300million-deal by the end of the day.
Current owner Mike Ashley has been trying to sell the club for some time and looked to have struck a deal with Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) 18 months ago.
But the deal, which has always included PCP Capital Partners and the Reuben brothers, was blocked by the Premier League as they sought answers to confirm who would control the club.
The Premier League insist all potential owners of a top-flight team pass an owners’ and directors’ test, which measures their suitability to control a club.
There were concerns the Premier League would not sanction the deal if they deemed PIF to be owned by the Saudi state.
But the Premier League has now decided that PIF is separate to the Saudi state, despite the fact Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is the chair of the fund.
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The takeover breakthrough came on Wednesday following news that Saudi Arabia will stop showing Premier League matches illegally through beoutQ and revoke its ban on showing beIN Sports, which has lasted four-and-a-half years.
Newcastle fans are expected to be delighted to see their club changing hands, with a Supporters’ Trust survey this week showing that a whopping 93 per cent of members wanted the deal to go through.
And now legendary Newcastle striker Alan Shearer has had his say courtesy of a tongue-in-cheek comment.
Following a day of high-profile developments on Wednesday, Shearer took to Twitter to post his views.
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“Been out all day. Anything happening?” wrote the Premier League’s record goalscorer alongside an emoji of a face with a monocle.
Judging by his comments after the original takeover talks broke down last year, Shearer appears to be in favour of his hometown club finally getting new owners.
“There’s a lot of anger, understandably so, and a massive amount of disappointment,” Shearer said in July last year.
“They want their club to compete – they want their club to move forward. That’s why yesterday was such a disappointing day.
“We can only hope and pray that new owners come in at some stage and take the club back to where it belongs because that’s what the fans of Newcastle deserve.”
Sports Direct owner Ashley has been an unpopular figure since buying Newcastle in 2007.
He has often refused to spend big money on signing new players and oversaw the club’s relegation to the Championship both in 2009 and 2016.
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