Simon Bird of The Mirror is reporting that Mike Ashley is set to sell up to the Saudis ‘within days‘ – and that £200m will immediately be pumped into the club to launch our revolution.
The North-East reporter details how the new model will see three-yearly injections given to the club to get us competing towards the top end of the Premier League again, with the first being a £200m sum to help ‘lay the foundations.’
The piece, which you can read in full here, also claims that new signings and a revamp of our training ground and academy will become priorities, with other ways to generate revenue through sponsorships also being on the agenda.
With the latter in mind, it is believed that the new regime will look to increase income by £50m a year within five years, something that has been ignored by Ashley who has been happy to keep us ticking over in unambitious fashion.
Interestingly, the article also says that Bruce will be kept in charge short-term – possibly until the end of the season – before a move for Rafa Benitez will become inevitable, something that has been echoed by the likes of Keith Downie.
With so many different stories flying around, it’s hard to know what to believe regarding the timescale of a takeover – however it’s fair to say about 95% of reliable outlets are now speaking as if it’s a matter of when, not if.
The original waiting time was ‘2-3 weeks’ when it first emerged that it had been left with the Premier League (widely known to be the final hurdle), and we are barely out of the first week as it stands.
I hope this piece is bang on, and that the club will be bought within the next few days, but the best solution would be to sit back and wait patiently for the next fortnight while this whole scenario plays out.
If nothing has happened two weeks down the line and doubts begin to creep in, only then can we vent our frustrations with just cause.
