Sky Sports & local reporters respond to £350m Sheikh Khaled claims - A must-read
Sky Sports and reporters from the Chronicle and Telegraph have responded to last night's huge claims that Sheikh Khaled had agreed a £350m takeover of Newcastle United.
Unfortunately, it's good and bad news, with most confirming interest and initial talks, but playing down the Sun's claims that contracts had been signed, the Premier League notified and a deal 'concluded'.
Sheikh Khaled - the half-brother of Man City owner Sheikh Mansour - is a senior member of the Abu Dhabi royal family and was involved in a failed £2bn takeover of Liverpool just last year
Here's what's been said on the deal in the last few moments, with Sky's Pete Graves, the Chronicle's Lee Ryder and the Telegraph's Luke Edwards providing some telling updates this morning:
A few concerns of mine here are A) Pete Graves' claim that Rafa Benitez's camp were totally unaware of this interest and B) The fact Luke Edwards has had several sources pour cold water on claims it's 'done' - suggesting there could still be a long way to go.
The fact talks HAVE taken place shows there is interest, but we can't afford to have another big takeover saga when a certain Rafa Benitez is due to leave the club in a few weeks time if a new contract isn't agreed.
The thought of a Abu-Dhabi based billionaire coming in and backing Benitez is an extremely exciting one, but given how takeovers have gone over the past few years, we must be guarded. After all, if this drags on, collapses and more time is wasted on Rafa's new contract / the transfer window as a result, it could be an absolute disaster.
