New Saudi takeover theory arrives from North-East journalist - "It would have been dropped by now"

The Chronicle's Mark Douglas has raised an intriguing point when discussing his theory on the ongoing Saudi takeover saga.

Speaking on The Everything is Black and White Podcast, Douglas feels that Mike Ashley would've dropped the case by now if he really believed he had no chance of winning this legal battle against the Premier League - insisting he'd be spending a LOT of money to face defeat in court.

As a result, he sees the weekend statement released by the Newcastle United owner as a 'positive' thing - and a clear sign that he really is confident in his case.

Here's what Mark Douglas has had to say:

"It's a positive in some ways because it once again shows that this is such a live issue and that the takeover is there to be won.

"If they felt that their case was totally untenable I think it would've been dropped by now - so much money has been spent on it.

"Mike Ashley did not become very rich by wasting money on things, and there's been quite a bit spent on this so far to get the takeover done.

"There's also the wider issue that he sees it as a chance to break the collusion in English football - he thinks there is a very big story out there and a very big issue of four or five clubs running the Premier League.

"Now that's his opinion. I'm duty-bound to say we don't have the hard and fast evidence to show that but it is clearly what Mike Ashley was implying when he said about dark forces in English football - that was an explosive thing to say.

"The fact he's now trying to get the legal battle in public, I feel is a sign on his part that he thinks he's got a really good case, and from that perspective, I would say it's a positive."

Surely the same can also apply to Amanda Staveley. After all, would she have doubled down in her fight against the Premier League and spoken to Sky Sports about the need to make arbitration public if the bid she was behind was destined to fail, again?

After over 12 months of questioning, her and the PIF hardly need more bad PR!

Who knows how strong their arguments are in comparison to the Premier League's, however you have to question why the latter are so reluctant for this to public if they have complete confidence in their case...

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