FOOTBALL DIGEST

÷US BUSINESSMAN Henry Mauriss has made a £350million offer to buy Newcastle United and wants to take control before next season. Mauriss is ready to move quickly but any deal would be dependent on the collapse of the Saudi-led takeover which is subject to the Premier League’s owners and directors test. Mike Ashley agreed a £300m price with the Saudi consortium in April and it is not known why Mauriss has offered £50m more. Newcastle supporters are sure to be sceptical and remain hopeful that the Premier League will approve the Saudi deal. Little is known about Mauriss’s worth but he is the current CEO of Clear TV, who provide broadcasting services for airports and hospitals. He set up the company in 2014 having previously started his own credit card business — Credit America Corporation — in 1998. Sources insist the offer is genuine and he is a viable buyer. ÷EIGHT people have tested positive for Covid19 in the Championship on the eve of the season restarting. Brentford — who face west London rivals Fulham on

Saturday — confirmed one positive test and Bristol City, hopeful of reaching the play-offs, also announced a positive test. ÷AN APP which could help get fans back into stadiums is set to be trialled by inviting up to 5,000 spectators to a club’s training session. The Premier League are in talks with the UK Government about using ‘digital health passports’ as a way of crowds returning to games. Two rival technology companies — including Prenetics, who are conducting the testing of players — have developed apps which can be scanned to check if the user has tested negative for Covid-19.