Simon Jordan explains why he believes Saudi takeover isn’t dead – “Is it over? I don’t think so…”

There was a time where Simon Jordan’s did nothing but rile Newcastle fans with some uninformed views on our club, however the ex-Palace chairman continues to hit the nail on the head when talking about the ongoing takeover saga.

Now, this isn’t to say the Saudi bid to buy the club is suddenly back on, but his latest assessment on talkSPORT offers an interesting viewpoint on it all – especially as a former Premier League owner.

As he states in the clip below, it seems he’s struggling to understand how the Premier League can block the deal – especially when the buyer and seller both remain committed – and questions if they are going unfairly above and beyond their remit to stand in the way of completion:

Here’s what he said on talkSPORT:

We are all speculating here, including Jordan, however it does ring alarm bells to me that the Premier League have allowed this deal to stall for so long and make Staveley wait “month after month” for a final decision.

If there were ‘red flags’ and a clear reason to fail it in what is an objective Owners and Directors test, surely they’d just fail it? Because they haven’t four months in, it makes you wonder if they know they technically have no grounds to fail the bid, yet equally don’t want to pass it – hence the constant delays and refusal to communicate, which has ultimately forced the Saudis into ‘withdrawing’.

The deal clearly has a lot of baggage that took an unprecedented time to wade through, but there’s absolutely no reason why a ‘3-4 week’ process should’ve dragged on this long.

It may seem exhausting to be left wondering if it could still happen after some finally accepted it was over last Thursday, but, as Jordan rightfully states, we can’t ignore the fact the buyers and seller have since come out signalling their total commitment to reaching a compromise.

Who knows what happens next. I’m not pinning my hopes on it being resurrected anymore, however there’s clearly a deal to be done here if the Premier League back down.

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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.

4 thoughts on “Simon Jordan explains why he believes Saudi takeover isn’t dead – “Is it over? I don’t think so…”

  1. I honestly think there`s more chance of me being allowed to buy Cat treats in Tynemouth than the takeover going through.

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  2. 1. Jordan has been right about many of the things he has said in the past – the fact that it riled Newcastle fans didn’t make him wrong.

    2. The Owners and Directors test comes into play once the buyer and seller agree. Jordan’s statement that the EPL should not stop a deal because they have agreed is ludicous. There’s nothing in the test that relates to whether or not they agree. The whole point of the test is “so you’ve agreed? OK – let’s take a look and see if we think this new owner is good for the club/league/sport.”

    3. Reference their “failure to communicate”. What is that aimed at? Is it their failure to communicate with us about the confidential process, or is it their failure to communicate with the buyer? There’s no evidence, and not even a suggestion that the EPL have not communicated with the buyers. On the contrary they have been asking for more information and asking for clarification. Even the buyers’ suggestion that the EPL have said they would not approve (or reject) the deal suggests communication wasn’t a problem.

    4. I’m not sure that buyers or seller have at any time signalled “their total commitment to reaching a compromise”. The sellers have said nothing and the buyers have blamed the EPL. There has been no mention anywhere of a “compromise”.

    We know what happened whether we want to agree or not. The EPL could not adequately separate the Crown Prince from human rights issues etc, neither could they separate him from control of the PIF. As a result they were building a legally sound case to disqualify PIF from owning Newcastle United. The Staveley consortium realised EPL had a very strong case so they bailed before they were labelled unfit.

    Rather amusingly, all that the fans protestations will achieve is the embarrassment of the Saudis.

    Finally – surely we don’t think that Staveley and co will be back in for Newcastle having slagged off the EPL the way they did?

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  3. Ian Cusack:
    I honestly think there`s more chance of me being allowed to buy Cat treats in Tynemouth than the takeover going through.

    these posts aren’t by me, but by someone pretending to be me

      (Quote)

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