Ash tired of Tyne wasters
MIKE ASHLEY is ready to tell Newcastle United fans frustrated at the non-sale of the club: “Don’t blame me.”
Just a few months ago, Ashley was confident his 13-year reign as Toon owner was about to end as a Saudi Arabia-backed consortium agreed a £300million-plus deal.
“Mike even saw the colour of their money – it was a done deal,” an Ashley aide said.
But a lengthy probe by the Premier League led to the Saudis walking away.
Other approaches have been made, but none of them, including a £350m offer by US businessman Henry Mauriss, has seen any money laid on the St James’ Park boardroom table.
And so far Ashley has not considered a purported offer from the Bellagraph Nova Group to be a goer as, again, he has seen no proof of any cash.
“Mike has had enough,” added the insider. “He has done everything to sell the club so that it could move on with people with bigger financial pockets than him.
“He knows it’s about time he went public with some of the timewasters who have left the club in limbo.”
Meanwhile, manager Steve Bruce, who has a good relationship with Ashley, has been told he will be shopping in Aldi rather than
Harrods after the Saudi deal collapse.
His spending budget has been restricted to between £25m and £30m. Any extra cash would have to raised by outgoing deals.
He faces a battle to bring in his top transfer targets, including Bournemouth’s Calum Wilson, Brentford’s Ollie Watkins, Eberechi Eze of QPR and Manchester United defender Chris Smalling.