NUFC Sale to Billionaire Arab.. most likely a load of old Ashley spun monkey crap

The news is dampening very fast.

 

It's all speculation. Do any of these people really know what's going on other than the statements issued. I suspect not.
The only people who really know what is going on is the people involved in the negotiations. Let's wait until we hear from them, like I said before, anything else is pure speculation.

 

I'm going with the attitude it's not happening personally, but there's at least some signs that something good might happen. Even if it goes through we have no idea what the wealth or the long term intentions of this man are, but hes not worth anywhere near as much as city's owner .

 

Whoever buys us I think we need to stop any conditions between any other owners.

 

Ok, cutting out all of the circus nonsense from Sky and the British papers, who were the ones to tell us that he was a close relative of Sheikh Mansour in the first place before finding out that he was someone else entirely. Focus on more reliable snippets:

The actual statement from Bin Zayed Group:

"We can confirm the representatives of his Highness Sheikh Khaled Bin Zayed Al Nahyan are in discussions with Mike Ashley and his team about the proposed acquisition of Newcastle United Football Club.

"We view it as an honour to have the opportunity to build on the strong support, history and tradition of the club.
"We have agreed terms and are working hard to complete the transaction at the earliest opportunity.

"Best Regards, Midhat Kidwai, Group Managing Director, Bin Zayed Group."


Martin Hardy (offthepitch.com), Monday:

Due diligence has been completed by the Bin Zayed Group, a further sign of the level of seriousness of the latest attempted takeover.
Sheikh Khaled Bin Zayed Al Nahyan failed in an attempt to take control at Liverpool last season and those inside Newcastle insist there is still work to be done before any takeover is completed. It will also have to be agreed by Ashley, who bought the club for £133m from the Hall and Shepherd families in 2007.

Those close to Ashley insist he will want guarantees that any new owners can move the club forward.

The Bin Zayed Group surprised Newcastle by releasing their statement late on Monday afternoon.

News of the potential takeover broke late on Sunday evening. The Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez, whose contract ends on June 30, was said to be surprised by the developments.

He has been locked in protracted talks about a possible contract extension and that too has still to reach a conclusion. He will ask for clarification from the club’s managing director, Lee Charnley.


Mitch‏@geordiedentist

Right then time for a game of who's who. A NUFC thread that may help to clarify something......so is our guy a Shiekh, a Fake Shiekh, a royal or what? I think I know where some of the confusion lies.........


So the Sheikh Khalid interested in NUFC is NOT this gentleman https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalid_bin_Sultan_bin_Zayed_Al_Nahyan… He is the brother of Man City's owner. 100% Abu Dhabi royal and in the ruling family. But not our guy. Note the name differs slightly......

THIS is the Shiekh Khalid interested in NUFC http://www.binzayed.com/chairman'sprofile.htm… Chairman of the Bin Zayed group who are very much Dubai based. He is distantly related to the ruling family as far as I am led to understand. Let's use cousin as a western noun that makes sense.....

He is distant enough so there is no issue over conflict of interest regarding family ownership of premier league clubs. He is nowhere near as wealthy. He is still worth more than we can probably imagine and far more than Mr Ashley......

However if terms have been agreed and we are now in that final dance then proof of funds is the next key though to get access to the data room as it were he would have already had to show some proof of funds (I seem to recall 100m being the magic number) ....

So now it's over to the finance guys. His MD has already said next announcement is from the finance group. I've written something for @MsiDouglas that should be out today to expand on some of my thoughts but I thought I needed to do this. It's not uncommon to struggle with names
Out here. I have a patient who always insists I call him Ibrahim. He is a Saudi and royal. He has about 12 names. None of them are actually Ibrahim

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but that is really not uncommon, for example. But let's be patient and clear up facts where we can. Yes they failed in a bid for Liverpool at 2BILLION over prood of funds. But in reality was it a) ever for sale b) if it was an Arab national didn't allegedly suit the sellers and c) it involved hedge fund input and Chinese money which is far far more complex than any deal for NUFC would be.


And the same Neil Mitchell, writing in the Chronicle - https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/view-dubai-what-middle-east-16340160

It’s not unusual for Arab businessmen to blow their horns loud once they feel they have achieved something. But it’s odd for them to leak anything ahead of time. Have they gone off half cocked? Has someone leaked something that could ultimately torpedo the deal? Where has the leak come from? Is it the buyer really? Or even the FA, as I had suggested to me? Or, tin foil hat time, the offices of Keith Bishop Associates? These were all valid questions.

So who is this Sheikh anyway? Is he real? a Fake Sheikh? Sheikh n’ Vac? God knows we’ve been here before as well.

But as anyone here in the UAE would tell you HH Sheikh Khalid bin Zayed al Nahyan is very real and the Bin Zayed Group which he is the chairman of held in high regard. Their values and performance are more than admirable and they have a very good track record, even in difficult economic times.

He is nowhere near as wealthy as the man who is supposedly his cousin and owns Man City but frankly I don’t think any of us expect or demand that kind of investment. In fact with the right sensible investment along with Rafa’s ‘project’ concept I don’t think we need astronomical figures by today’s standards.

That said you’re probably still looking at £500million to buy and invest and frankly I’ve probably been in the UAE a bit too long to call that “not astronomical’.
And then at the end of the day a statement released by the Bin Zayed group that for me is the killer part of this. The key phrase is ‘terms agreed’. Something not denied and indeed effectively confirmed by the club. That would imply exclusivity. That says, to use a rather on trend term, end game.

That made me think the only thing that can scupper this now is Mike Ashley. He is the one hurdle everyone has to jump and many fail. He is the Beecher’s Brook and Chair combined. If anyone can find a way to disrupt his own sale it seems, apparently, it’s him.

 

To be fair, MA is one hell of a high and wide hurdle

 

I won't believe it until I see his fat, lardy, sheikh tum falling out of a Newcastle shirt in the home end

 

So it's not happening is what you're saying aye ?

 

So hang on ! which sheick are we dealing with here?

Wtf is going on

 

A guy like the guy who owns Sheffield United

 

Yeah, bid is genuine but MA will ensure it fails... Once he has drawn it out long enough to waste the transfer window and lose Rafa.

 

I see

 

Do you work? Lol

 

Obviously

 

Newcastle are staying tight-lipped and there will be no statement from the club today or clarification. Mike Ashley is on holiday and he is the key to all of this: he will want to see the colour of the prospective buyer’s money and also proof that they have the resources to take the club forward.
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/spo...ewcastle-united-takeover-live-latest-16339511

And so it begins.

 

He's on holiday!

Oh sorry your highness you'll have to wait I'm off work today

 

What I find funny is the " can they take us forward". Like he gives a duck once that £350M his his back account

 

Yeah hell sell to the worst candidate for 50 p more

 

Lets see if he can provide proof of funds. He has been here before with Liverpool and that deal was quickly rubbished when he was asked to show the colour of his money. Him saying deal is agreed is irrelevant. I think people have seen the Sky Sports yellow ticker and thought, oh well that confirms it. It is just speculation at present nothing more. It doesn't matter what this sheikh says, the only thing that matters is someone signing on the dotted line.

I'm still of the opinion that this sheikh is nothing more than another Staveley type chancer. I'm still of the opinion that even if the interest were real, and the funds were proven, Mike Ashley has no real desire to sell and will always find a way to scupper the deal.

You are certainly not going to find out on here as we have nobody ITK, well at least based on previous attempts at being ITK

 

Exactly this.