The Athletic claim “serious bidders” are confident of takeover after Mike Ashley meeting

According to The Athletic, the Orlegi Group are “serious bidders” and ‘confident’ about their chances of completing a takeover at Newcastle United.

This comes after David Ornstein (a writer for the Athletic) reported last month that Mike Ashley had held talks with “Mexican businessmen”, and he’s now confirmed that this was in fact members of the Orlegi Group – who were linked with a takeover earlier this year.

Although it was initially claimed that these talks ‘came to nothing’, The Athletic report that the Mexicans ‘remain very much in contention’ to complete a deal, insisting they are ‘serious bidders’ – stating their offer is ‘in the hands of their mergers and acquisitions department for fine-tuning’.

Here’s a snippet for David Ornstein’s latest piece today:

Mexicans serious bidders after third approach for Newcastle

This column reported in October that Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley had met in London with two Mexican businessmen interested in buying the Magpies, though it was unclear if they were the same suitors — the Orlegi group — linked with a move for the club earlier in the year.

We can now confirm it was indeed Orlegi that Ashley sat down with and, despite The Athletic being told at the time that those talks came to nothing, sources have indicated the Mexicans remain very much in contention and have even expressed confidence over their chances.

Newcastle supporters might be forgiven for thinking they have been here before and, considering two previous approaches by Orlegi are said to have fizzled out after Ashley apparently moved the goalposts when the proposals were set for legal inspection, scepticism is understandable. But sources insist they are serious bidders, to the extent the offer is thought to be in the hands of their mergers and acquisitions department for fine-tuning.

Led by Alejandro Irarragorri and director of football Jose Riestra, Orlegi are also known to have made contact with some prominent football names for information and advice on the St James’ Park outfit. Crystal Palace were among the clubs they considered before focusing on Newcastle.

We’ve been here before, so it goes without saying this will be taken with yet another pinch of salt.

That said, a solid start to the campaign means we now go into ‘takeover season’ in a far more appealing position to potential buyers.

We’re still in a potential relegation fight, but we’re not in or around the bottom three at present – something which may have off put interested parties when we were struggling badly this time last year.

I don’t think anyone on Tyneside will be waiting with bated breath, but let’s see if anything substantial comes of this one in the coming weeks and months.

(Fancy writing for us? Get in touch at [email protected] & we’ll get back to you!)

About Olly Hawkins

As a Junior Magpie since birth and season ticket holder, I eat, sleep and breathe all things NUFC! Here at the blog, I aim to bring you news, views, match reports and transfer exclusives as and when I get them.

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