Long suffering Newcastle fans may face another year with Mike Ashley as owner. The two consortiums still interested in buying the club have been given an informal deadline on Friday. They have already missed a deadline of 31 July, but Ashley takes the view that the takeover needs to be sorted one way or another before the Coca-Cola Championship season starts this weekend. The closure of the transfer window at the end of the month would stop any new owner buying or selling players. If he stayed on, Ashley would pump as much as £40m of his own money into the club.
Long suffering Newcastle fans may face another year with Mike Ashley as owner. The two consortiums still interested in buying the club have been given an informal deadline on Friday. They have already missed a deadline of 31 July, but Ashley takes the view that the takeover needs to be sorted one way or another before the Coca-Cola Championship season starts this weekend. The closure of the transfer window at the end of the month would stop any new owner buying or selling players. If he stayed on, Ashley would pump as much as £40m of his own money into the club. At present, Newcastle are operating on a Barclays Bank overdraft of about £40m. Their annual wage bill stood at £67m in their last published accounts, but will have been reduced by a number of high profile departures. It has been suggested, however, that the prospective purchasers want to see further evidence of the wage bill being reduced before they commit themselves.
The identity of the two consortiums bidding for the club has been kept secret, but it is believed that one is from the Middle East and there has been speculation that the other is from the United States. A consortium involving former Newcastle chairman Freddie Shepherd has been ruled out because he is reluctant to raise enough money.