Lee Charnley offers update on the NUFC takeover after new Amanda Staveley claims emerge
After the Mail claimed Amanda Staveley's potential takeover at NUFC was 'dead in the water', Lee Charnley has admitted that the club are 'planning and assuming' that Mike Ashley will still be the owner of Newcastle United ahead of the upcoming season.
As we know, Staveley has been the one and only 'serious' bidder to come forward since the club was put up for sale late last year, however her trio of bids failed to meet the asking price, leaving Ashley to call an end to talks after deeming her to be a 'time waster'.
Since then our Premier League status has been confirmed, meaning there'd be no need for relegation clauses in any new offers (believed to be a big part of the problem in her initial bids), however all the talk of a takeover has died down since Ashley re-valued the club at £400m.
During a rare interview from the managing director, here's what Charnley had to say to the Mirror when asked 'Is a takeover still possible?':
“There have been a lot of briefings and information out there"
“We are planning and assuming that Mike will be the owner of the football club. We are moving forward assuming he will be the owner - because what is the alternative?”
So it's as expected unfortunately - a sale does not look likely at all this summer.
Some will feel Ashley's purposely priced himself out of a move after setting a new £400m asking price after safety was confirmed, while others are frustrated Staveley hasn't upped her interest as she claimed she would - but is that because the new price is extortionate?
Who actually knows, but, for now, it looks like we're in for another summer where Ashley is in charge.
