The Athletic have revealed some of the reasons behind Newcastle’s takeover collapsing, including the claim that both Liverpool and Tottenham were “strongly against” the takeover.
After months of deliberation and waiting, the consortium attempting to buy the Magpies finally pulled out of their bid, revealing that they were withdrawing from the process with “regret“.
Now, The Athletic have broken down some of the reasons behind that decision. They claim that: “multiple sources from the consortium had told them the Premier League had given them “private assurances” before the deal was signed; the Premier League has been “unduly influenced by politically motivated attacks from third parties”; they suspect some of their top-flight rivals, believed to be Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur in particular, were strongly against the takeover and made their opposition evident to administrators.”
For Newcastle fans, seeing the takeover collapse after months of waiting patiently for it to go through must sting immensely.
The Magpies faithful were sold a dream of Mike Ashley’s tenure as owner finally coming to an end, so for it to all blow up in their face at the final hurdle is a bitter pill to swallow.
The Athletic’s claim that both Liverpool and Spurs were “strongly against” the takeover suggests some of the Premier League’s established sides were wary of a new competitor arriving on the scene, much like Manchester City and Chelsea have done in recent years.
The traditional ‘big six’ in the top-flight have already seen both Leicester and Wolves in particular try and challenge them in the 2019/2020 season, and having another club seek to break that up would have naturally met with some resistance.
It remains to be seen whether Newcastle will have new owners at the helm anytime soon now.