Various: Mike Ashley in talks with Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehayan

[Guest]

August 9th deadline day man. Thick as fuck.

[ponsaelius]

August 9th deadline is gonna be a nightmare with a month of World Cup football as well.

[Guest]

It'll just about work every other year. Even then, I still don't get it for the sake of 3-4 games.

[Mr Logic]

Not paying any attention this time/ When it is anounced we're sold I'll start listening/celebrating.

[Nattfare]

We'll sell Mitro for a lot of money we won't even use at least.

[huss9]

We'll sell Mitro for a lot of money we won't even use at least.

 

yup - nets seasons budget will be out of the lascelles/mitro sales - and  not even all of it.

[cp40]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/03/29/exclusive-mike-ashley-will-renew-efforts-sell-newcastle-united/

Exclusive: Mike Ashley will renew efforts to sell Newcastle United as soon as Premier League safety assured

 

Luke Edwards

29 MARCH 2018 • 9:30PM

 

Mike Ashley, the Newcastle United owner, will renew his efforts to sell the club as soon as manager Rafa Benitez has made sure of Premier League survival and has been informed there is fresh interest in a potential takeover.

 

Newcastle will take a giant leap towards safety if they can beat Huddersfield Town at St James’ Park on Saturday. The Magpies have only lost to Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool since Christmas and are currently four points and five places clear of the drop zone.

 

Ashley, though, is still keen to sever ties with the club he bought in 2007 and will restart the search for a buyer before the summer, as long as relegation is no longer a danger.

 

Telegraph Sport understands that there has been tentative interest from at least two new parties in the last few weeks, but everything remains on hold until both sides know which division Newcastle will be playing in next season.

 

Encouragingly for supporters who are still desperate to see a change of direction in the boardroom, the promise of wider interest in a club desperately in need of more ambitious leadership means it is more likely Ashley will be able to sell before the summer transfer window opens.

 

That is something that is seen as key to the latest attempts to find a buyer as the new owners need to, realistically, be in place before the start of July, when the transfer window opens.

 

For the first time, English clubs will only have until August 9 to sign and sell players before the start of next season following a vote to shorten the transfer window.

 

Talks with one prospective buyer, financier Amanda Staveley, collapsed at the end of last year with Ashley releasing a statement in which he described the attempts to reach a deal with her PCP Capital firm as a “waste of time”.

 

The negotiations had become increasingly acrimonious with false and misleading updates suggesting a deal was close to being agreed leaked to the media before Christmas.

 

Ashley had grown increasingly exasperated with the tactics used by Staveley to try and force him to lower his asking price, but he will also be willing to listen to new offers from her once safety is confirmed.

 

Whether Benitez is willing to sign a new contract before then remains to be seen. Talks to extend his current deal, which will have just 12 months left to run in June, have not taken place, despite the fact the Newcastle hierarchy have expressed a desire to do so.

 

Benitez has been exasperated at the end of the last three transfer windows and trust needs to be restored.

 

Benitez is wary of agreeing to anything before he has held more face-to-face talks with Ashley and is also likely to wait to see what happens with a takeover before making any decision on his own future at St James’ Park.

 

he will add the 100m tv money to whatever he was holding our for last time.

[Guest firetotheworks]

I don't know anyone who would take anything seriously anymore. The Chronicle constantly try and push the "what does X mean in terms of a potential takeover?" and every time they're just told to fuck off.

[xLiaaamx]

Here we go again. Same excuse to spend fuck all every summer.

[madras]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/03/29/exclusive-mike-ashley-will-renew-efforts-sell-newcastle-united/

Exclusive: Mike Ashley will renew efforts to sell Newcastle United as soon as Premier League safety assured

 

Luke Edwards

29 MARCH 2018 • 9:30PM

 

Mike Ashley, the Newcastle United owner, will renew his efforts to sell the club as soon as manager Rafa Benitez has made sure of Premier League survival and has been informed there is fresh interest in a potential takeover.

 

Newcastle will take a giant leap towards safety if they can beat Huddersfield Town at St James’ Park on Saturday. The Magpies have only lost to Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool since Christmas and are currently four points and five places clear of the drop zone.

 

Ashley, though, is still keen to sever ties with the club he bought in 2007 and will restart the search for a buyer before the summer, as long as relegation is no longer a danger.

 

Telegraph Sport understands that there has been tentative interest from at least two new parties in the last few weeks, but everything remains on hold until both sides know which division Newcastle will be playing in next season.

 

Encouragingly for supporters who are still desperate to see a change of direction in the boardroom, the promise of wider interest in a club desperately in need of more ambitious leadership means it is more likely Ashley will be able to sell before the summer transfer window opens.

 

That is something that is seen as key to the latest attempts to find a buyer as the new owners need to, realistically, be in place before the start of July, when the transfer window opens.

 

For the first time, English clubs will only have until August 9 to sign and sell players before the start of next season following a vote to shorten the transfer window.

 

Talks with one prospective buyer, financier Amanda Staveley, collapsed at the end of last year with Ashley releasing a statement in which he described the attempts to reach a deal with her PCP Capital firm as a “waste of time”.

 

The negotiations had become increasingly acrimonious with false and misleading updates suggesting a deal was close to being agreed leaked to the media before Christmas.

 

Ashley had grown increasingly exasperated with the tactics used by Staveley to try and force him to lower his asking price, but he will also be willing to listen to new offers from her once safety is confirmed.

 

Whether Benitez is willing to sign a new contract before then remains to be seen. Talks to extend his current deal, which will have just 12 months left to run in June, have not taken place, despite the fact the Newcastle hierarchy have expressed a desire to do so.

 

Benitez has been exasperated at the end of the last three transfer windows and trust needs to be restored.

 

Benitez is wary of agreeing to anything before he has held more face-to-face talks with Ashley and is also likely to wait to see what happens with a takeover before making any decision on his own future at St James’ Park.

 

he will add the 100m tv money to whatever he was holding our for last time.

Not so sure. I'd guess that both parties would have an idea of the size of the new package so that would've been factored in to the original price.

 

Personally hoping that as soon as safety is assured (hopefully!, not counting my chickens) then Staveley comes back with that bid without the need for the clause this time as it seemed like Ashley would be prepared to do business if it wasn't for the clause.

[huss9]

there's enough online articles saying "here we go again" and thats its all an excuse not to spend - unfortunately none if it is from the national media.

[Bishops Finger]

Could end up another frustrating summer if this shit kicks off again, Ashley always seems to want more than the club is worth and more than suitors are willing to pay, he needs to look at the club now as to what it's worth and not potentially what it's worth, cos potential costs a lot of money and time to recoup any profits. It's going to cost a lot of money to get this team challenging anywhere near the top ten, which is what Rafa wants.

Can't see Rafa signing a new deal until he knows one way or the other what funds he has, he'll not fall for the same crap again guaranteed.

 

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

If we stay up, Ashley can't just pocket the £100m TV money from the club. It's the clubs money in the club's accounts. The owner can't just empty the bank balance and then sell. I hope he'll let the club operate on the money it has (which is supposedly always his idea how it finances itself). That's one of the reasons the budget this year was so low. In theory there will be £100m or so before expenses available in the Summer.

[Twinport53]

If we stay up, Ashley can't just pocket the £100m TV money from the club. It's the clubs money in the club's accounts. The owner can't just empty the bank balance and then sell. I hope he'll let the club operate on the money it has (which is supposedly always his idea how it finances itself). That's one of the reasons the budget this year was so low. In theory there will be £100m or so before expenses available in the Summer.

 

But he does pocket the money, he sacked the clubs PR firm, hired a PR firm owned by himself and charged the club twice as much for the privilege. He's a dirty scummy cunt. It won't be the full 100mil obviously, but he'll take his bit on the sly.

[huss9]

If we stay up, Ashley can't just pocket the £100m TV money from the club. It's the clubs money in the club's accounts. The owner can't just empty the bank balance and then sell. I hope he'll let the club operate on the money it has (which is supposedly always his idea how it finances itself). That's one of the reasons the budget this year was so low. In theory there will be £100m or so before expenses available in the Summer.

 

easily done - could use it to pay any amount of debt owed to him. and as mentioned above he could bring in any of his cronies and their firms and pay them well over the odds for their trouble.

this man is a weapons grade cunt of the highest order. absolute greedy, evil, nufc supporter-hating bastard.

[Robster]

No way am I going to get my hopes up again. In my opinion, anyone who thinks this might happen in the summer is setting themselves up for a massive disappointment.

As far as I'm concerned, Ashley is here for life.

[Darth Crooks]

No way am I going to get my hopes up again. In my opinion, anyone who thinks this might happen in the summer is setting themselves up for a massive disappointment.

As far as I'm concerned, Ashley is here for life.

 

[Happinesstan]

It's an instant reaction now, but when I see the thread title my brain goes into full on tourettes and just shouts "CUNT!".

 

It's weird. I can't say "CUNT!" no matter how hard I try. Every time I try to say "CUNT!" it comes out as "Mike Ashley".

[jonny1403]

If we stay up, Ashley can't just pocket the £100m TV money from the club. It's the clubs money in the club's accounts. The owner can't just empty the bank balance and then sell. I hope he'll let the club operate on the money it has (which is supposedly always his idea how it finances itself). That's one of the reasons the budget this year was so low. In theory there will be £100m or so before expenses available in the Summer.

 

Of course he can - the club is a 100% subsidiary of the holding company that he owns. He could distribute as much money as he wants up to himself at any time.

[mrmojorisin75]

Joey Barton said Staveley is nailed on once we are safe

 

class!  joey will know

[Twinport53]

Reet Mike. Off you fuck.

[Guest]

Wonder where we'd have been if we'd got the three January signings back in August? Somewhere between Burnley & Leicester I'd guess.

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

If we stay up, Ashley can't just pocket the £100m TV money from the club. It's the clubs money in the club's accounts. The owner can't just empty the bank balance and then sell. I hope he'll let the club operate on the money it has (which is supposedly always his idea how it finances itself). That's one of the reasons the budget this year was so low. In theory there will be £100m or so before expenses available in the Summer.

 

Of course he can - the club is a 100% subsidiary of the holding company that he owns. He could distribute as much money as he wants up to himself at any time.

 

My understanding of running a company is you can't personally just take money out and pay it into your personal bank account without getting absolutely hammered with tax. Now he could pay expenses to his other companies but if it was e.g. £20m to PR firm, £20m to Sports Direct, etc those figures have to be justified to HMRC.

 

As far as selling NUFC, surely when he values the club at £300m that's with £0 in the bank account. I suppose if NUFC bank £100m in the Summer he can ask for £400m.

 

Personally I doubt he'll find a buyer (I hope I'm wrong and we get a good owner/s). I can see him being stuck with NUFC but 'allowing' the club to run as a business so if there's £100m in the bank Rafa's budget would be from that after the usual expenses.

[Ketsbaia]

Right, let's get this takeover done well before the World Cup

[jonny1403]

If we stay up, Ashley can't just pocket the £100m TV money from the club. It's the clubs money in the club's accounts. The owner can't just empty the bank balance and then sell. I hope he'll let the club operate on the money it has (which is supposedly always his idea how it finances itself). That's one of the reasons the budget this year was so low. In theory there will be £100m or so before expenses available in the Summer.

 

Of course he can - the club is a 100% subsidiary of the holding company that he owns. He could distribute as much money as he wants up to himself at any time.

 

My understanding of running a company is you can't personally just take money out and pay it into your personal bank account without getting absolutely hammered with tax. Now he could pay expenses to his other companies but if it was e.g. £20m to PR firm, £20m to Sports Direct, etc those figures have to be justified to HMRC.

 

As far as selling NUFC, surely when he values the club at £300m that's with £0 in the bank account. I suppose if NUFC bank £100m in the Summer he can ask for £400m.

 

Personally I doubt he'll find a buyer (I hope I'm wrong and we get a good owner/s). I can see him being stuck with NUFC but 'allowing' the club to run as a business so if there's £100m in the bank Rafa's budget would be from that after the usual expenses.

 

Not really. Yes you pay tax on personal distributions but if he wanted to move money up it would likely be ultimately paid to MASH Holdings. The company would pay corporation tax on receipt of that distribution but that wouldn't be overly punitive. I work in corporate law and there are a number of ways that MA could then structure a distribution from topco to himself while not getting too hamstrung by tax issues. MA probably wouldn't elect to distribute anything to himself as he doesn't really have any incentive to do that right now, but that's not to say he couldn't take money out of the club at any time without much in the way of consequence.