Club reporter responds to takeover claims that Arthur Blank is interested in double deal at NUFC

Following claims that Atlanta Utd owner Arthur Blank is now behind a US Consortium keen to buy Newcastle United, the Chronicle’s Chris Waugh has admitted that he is ‘sceptical’ – and doubts their star player Miguel Almiron would be involved in any deal.

Let’s be honest, this response is hardly a surprise the way things tend to go on the takeover/transfer front these days, however bits of this did need to be addressed after whispers of alleged interest from Atlanta’s Arthur Blank – who is worth well over £2billion.

Here’s what the Chronicle reporter had to say in response to the following question (during a Q&A session), with a fan asking if Blank is showing interest and whether or not the Atlanta link could be the reason we could sign star player Miguel Almrion in January:

In the blog we've got a correspondent who reckons the owner of Atalanta United, Arthur Blank, is interested in #nufc: https://t.co/sAShtvRH8y

— Mark Douglas (@MsiDouglas) November 28, 2018

 Q – Arthur Blank’s (Atlanta Utd Owner) name keeps getting mentioned as the head of the US Consortium trying to buy NUFC. Is this why the club is confident on getting Almiron to Newcastle?

A – “Arthur Blank is a name that has been floated as someone who may be interesting in investing in Newcastle. But so have tonnes of names – and the difference between rumour and reality is stark.

“Perhaps Blank is heading a US consortium to buy the Magpies, but it is not something that has been definitively stood up – and, as far as I understand, he is not in a position where he is going to imminently purchase NUFC. So I’m sceptical about that, I’m afraid.

“In terms of whether the Miguel Almiron interest comes from Blank, given that the Paraguayan is an Atlanta United player, I would doubt that is the case.

“My understanding is that Newcastle have watched Almiron for more than 18 months now, and the reason they keep scouting him is because he is exactly the sort of player Benitez wants.

“The Magpies manager has desired an attacking-midfielder for almost two years, and Almiron fits the bill. Crucially, given that he plays in the MLS, he is a lot cheaper than many European-based options.

“I say ‘cheaper’, but that is relative to prices on this continent; Newcastle will still likely to have to spend well in excess of £15million to sign Almiron.

“That’s why I’m not so sure the club are necessarily ‘confident’ about signing Almiron; if Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur do want the midfielder and bidding war follows, then Newcastle may get priced out of the market.

“Almiron is certainly a player Newcastle like, but whether he turns out to be their top January transfer target remains to be seen.”

Takeover talk is becoming more and more tedious for Newcastle fans and this latest ink seems far more remote than the proposed interested buyers that have failed to agree a deal with Ashley previously.

As the Chronicle state, any deal would not involve players, that would be absurd, but there does seems to be some momentum from the US, perhaps no coincidence with Peter Kenyon supposedly there trying to drum up investment.

The real question is whether this is a real link or one conjured by the Ashley PR machine with the January window around the corner. Whatever happens, we need a takeover before the summer to have any hope of keeping Benitez and climbing the table.

Almiron is the type of player we need regardless of a takeover; three wins have helped paper over the cracks but while Ashley remains, we are going nowhere.