Report reveals Amanda Staveley's immediate plans for NUFC as takeover talk returns
According to the Mirror, Amanda Staveley is already making plans to improve the club's training ground, with it emerging over the weekend that she is now 'confident' of doing a deal with Mike Ashley after 'constructive talks'.
Not only that, it is claimed that she will hand Rafa a 'lengthy contract' and back him with a 'substantial' summer budget if her takeover bid at NUFC is successful.
A few hours after our 2-1 win over Leicester on Saturday, an exclusive emerged from John Richardson of the Mirror, claiming a deal between Amanda Staveley and Mike Ashley may be back on.
Now, the cynical side of me saw this as an easy story to make up on the night we practically confirmed our Premier League survival, however it is true that our top flight status was the biggest question mark hanging over a potential takeover. It forced her into installing clauses that seemed to be one of the biggest things scuppering any deal. Now our safety looks secured, could both parties be ready to do business? Perhaps.
With this in mind, here's a promising snippet from the Mirror's story, revealing Staveley's intentions after news that she is now 'confident' of striking a deal:
“It’s understood that PCP’s confidence in securing a deal in the region of £300 million has led to them making plans to improve the club’s training ground.”
“Staveley’s group are committed to backing Benitez with a substantial transfer war chest if they wrest control of St. James’ Park and will immediately reward him with a new lengthy contract.”
It all makes for exciting reading, but there's also a sense of 'we've heard this all before'.
It helps to take these things with a pinch of salt to manage our expectations, but, on the flip side, there's no doubt in my mind that her stance will be different now she is quite sure we'll be a Premier League club next season.
Fingers crossed she can now take the bull by the horns and get this deal done, with her arrival perhaps being the final piece in the jigsaw to get our brilliant club right on track under Rafa.
