Staveley to buy Magpies
NEWCASTLE UNITED are expected to confirm the takeover of the club in the coming week.
Talk has been rife of Amanda Staveley’s (right) company, PCP Capital Partners, buying the North East outfit ever since the financier was spotted at St. James’ Park earlier this season.
The investment company entered the process of due diligence last month and wanted a deal finalised by Christmas, which matched the desires of current owner Mike Ashley.
And Starsport now understands the takeover will be announced this week.
The news will be welcomed by Newcastle fans, who have long sought-after a change in ownership.
Staveley is said to want the deal finalised by December in order to allow Rafa Benitez the chance to plan a transfer strategy for early 2018.
Last month, Starsport reported the businesswoman had met with Newcastle chiefs in London to discuss the takeover and that Benitez will receive upwards of £100m (RM548m) to spend when the transfer window rolls back around.
The club were said to be prioritising the need for a leftback, midfielder and forward.
Moves for Luke Shaw, Ross Barkley and former Magpies striker Andy Carroll were all discussed in the meeting.
Benitez has remained tightlipped when it comes to takeover speculation but will no doubt be excited by the prospect of a transfer war chest.
Newcastle return to action when they take on Manchester United after the international break. – Daily Star
then Barca boss. He finally did in La Liga but when Pep was at the end of his tether. And only by causing enough disharmony to nearly trigger another Spanish civil war.
But he was denied a chance to become the first manager to win the Champions league in three different countries when Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund thrashed Real in the semifinal. Pep had taken his sabbatical by then.
So, just as Mourinho feels he can’t beat the PepSheikh Mansour double act, he spots an opportunity to level what he considers an unfairly tilted playing field. What Abu Dhabi is doing for Pep and City, Qatar can do for him and PSG. And already there are reports of trouble in Paris.
Manager Una Emery is on notice, Neymar is said to be unhappy and even considering going back to Barcelona or a switch to Madrid. It is a dressing room in tumult and begging for a strong man to sort it out.
After the constraints of the heavily-indebted Glazers and fans lukewarm to his style of play, he may well feel he has a better chance of winning the Champions League with the money-no-object Qatari owners than in rainy, lonely Manchester. And in Neymar, he would have the superstar he needs.
And right now United fans may not be that devastated to see him go. Unlike when Alex Ferguson and then David Moyes left, there is a ready-made replacement. Fergie has already given the seal of approval and with his penchant for youth and attacking football, Mauricio Pochettino would ATLETICO MADRID MANCHESTER UNITED want to sell 22-year-old England leftback Luke Shaw for about £20m in January.
PATRICE EVRA WEST HAM and Austria forward Marko Arnautovic, 28, says he will not be sold in the January transfer window.
ARSENAL’S