Mike Ashley has been exposed once again, with The Telegraph’s Luke Edward’s revealing that the NUFC owner decided to take £10m out of the club over the summer – despite promising Rafa Benitez ‘every penny’ generated in the summer transfer window.
The North-East reporter claims that he ‘suddenly decided’ to take back some of the £144m he gave the club in interest free loans over the summer, with him suggesting that this was partly due to Benitez’s refusal to sign a new deal.
So, in short, a part of him was punishing Benitez for being rightfully frustrated and reluctant to sign – yet in doing that he’s only made Rafa more unlikely to sign.
Typical Ashley, shooting himself in the foot and lying through his front teeth – with him deciding to pocket some of the money raised by the club just months after he PROMISED Benitez ‘every penny’ generated ahead of the summer transfer window.
Here’s a big chunk from Luke Edwards latest piece for The Telegraph:
Mike Ashley, the Newcastle United owner, took around £10m out of the club over the summer, depriving manager Rafa Benitez of much-needed transfer funds.
Telegraph Sport can reveal the amount Ashley took out of the business as he suddenly decided to take back some of the £144m he has provided the club in the form of interest free loans.
Ashley had promised in an official statement back in May – as he had done 12 months earlier – that Benitez would get “every penny” the club generated in the Premier League, as he claimed he wanted the Spaniard to stay long term.
But instead he has decided not to stick to that pledge, with Benitez’s refusal to sign a new deal thought to have been one of the reasons for him doing so.
The club refused to comment when asked to confirm £10m had been repaid to Ashley and to explain why it was taken out of the club given the lack of financial support for Benitez in the transfer market.
Sources have indicated that the money repaid was not meant to be a long-term loan from the owner. However, although £10m is not a large amount for a Premier League football club, it would have made a significant difference to Benitez’s transfer budget.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a huge amount, but when £10m is more than we spent on a single player all summer after a net spend of -£21m, it suddenly seems a fair chunk.
That extra £10m is probably the difference between a 6-8 goal striker and a 15 goal striker – and that’s exactly what we’re crying out for now.
I’m bewildered by the naivety of the fans at large. It’s kind of like having a big fat cancerous barnacle on your old man.
You know it’s gonna hurt like fk to have it removed but your gonna do it anyway, because in the long run we can take the short term pain for the long term gain.
Cashely , or barnacle which ever you prefer, understands one language, the language of currency .
Sever his currency, or damage it sufficiently, and he will crawl and slither away to attach himself to some other club.
Short term pain, yes we may well suffer, maybe relegated and lose rafa .
This club is bigger than rafa cashley or any division.
We could drop to lowest league and still 50,000 attendance every week.
So…..100 per cent boycott of all fixtures home away cups etc.
Until this cancer has been cut out.
No merchandise what so ever. Make the north east a graveyard for sports direct.
It’s so simple, I’m as loyal as the next fan, but I don’t bleat and ***** on.
Because I know what has to be done, and I’ve been practising this for years now.
Those willing to sacrifice are true fans, those that still attend games and buy his trash are selling us and the club down the Tyne.
So stop bitching and do something about it.
Steve(Quote)
Is it just me or was this mentioned weeks ago – possibly at the Fans Forum?
Hardly a “scoop”
Not really sure that our club dilemma is what it is for the want of a mere 10 million.
Good news is – that’s 10 million off the asking price for the club.
Brrrian(Quote)
I don’t understand why people bang on about Ashley saving us from ‘financial ruin’ he simply moved the goal posts, we still have the exact same debt, the club will have to generate that 144m which is why there is no transfer funds and why no one wants to buy!
Azza(Quote)
If any of this is true, surely this would have only given us -£10m to spend? Therefore not making any difference to Rafas transfer budget at all.
Jimbob(Quote)