Mystery man who held £330m takeover talks with Mike Ashley now in jail - The Athletic

As reported by The Athletic, American businessman Henry Maurriss - the man who tried to buy Newcastle United four years ago - has now been jailed for fraud. 

With the Saudi’s PIF bid stalling in 2019, Maurriss made a £330m offer to buy the club from Mike Ashley and even met with him in the offices of Flannels, but a deal (thankfully!) never materialised.

The 59-year-old was also in talks with Sheffield United owner Prince Abdullah over a potential £115m deal in April 2022. Again, however, the deal failed to materialise.

Now, it has been revealed that the FBI had been investigating the billionaire throughout both of his attempts to purchase a football club and has been in jail since July of last year. 

There was always huge suspicion about Mauriss - his history in business was limited at best and there were so few photos of him online - so we can count our lucky stars Mike Ashley didn't sell to the US fraudster prior to sealing a deal with the Saudi PIF.

Considering where we are now less than 18 months on from new ownership, I dread to think what state we'd be in had Mauriss taken over.