Why hasn't the club been sold?
14 of the 19 other clubs in Premier League have changed hands since Mike Ashley bought Newcastle in 2007, some of them multiple times. Aston Villa have actually been sold twice in the last three years alone – 2016 and 2018.
Of the other five, Norwich have been owned by fans for the past 16 years, Burnley are also long-time owned by fans but a bit more difficult to pinpoint an exact date you would put, Tottenham are long-time owned by fans although they were listed on the Alternative Investment Market up to 2011 with Joe Lewis involved before he took total control, the Glazers have owned their cash cow since 2005 and then Abramovich at Chelsea since 2003.
The Glazers are onto such a good thing they would never want to let go, whilst another three of the five have no interest in selling, with only maybe Abramovich up for selling now if he gets offered enough, due to a mixture of reasons such as the mad price it would cost to build their new stadium as well as personal life reasons.
Which leaves Newcastle United.
All of those other clubs have been sold/changed control since Mike Ashley bought Newcastle United.
They get put up for sale and somebody buys them, how extraordinary. You would think surely one of them would take pity on Mike Ashley and let him in on the secret.
You might say that some of these clubs were bought for far less than Newcastle’s value (never mind the value Mike Ashley would want…) and/or they were in trouble at the time and needed to be sold.
Well so what? Somebody was still willing to buy the clubs, take on the financial risk and invest money to turn them around.
The truth about Mike Ashley not being able to sell Newcastle United?
It is quite simple, he doesn’t want to sell it.
It is painful when he tries to make out that he is a fan and would only sell to somebody who would take good care of and love it like he does…pass the sick bucket.
There is no valid reason as to why this football club couldn’t find a willing buyer these past 11 years.
If something doesn’t make sense then it is usually a lie.
When the day comes that Mike Ashley genuinely wants to sell Newcastle United, the club will find a buyer.
Mike Ashley PR statement published by The Mail – This extract about a takeover…:
‘Manchester City can afford to have an ageing team; they can afford to just write players off. How can we do that? It’s not possible. Therefore you have to go for the best young players and hope they develop that little bit and become world-beaters.
‘That is our principle and it hasn’t changed for many years. But to compete, I need someone to take Newcastle off me who literally wants to put in £1billion.’
‘So I have to assume I will stay running this football club. There are no offers. Define an offer. I’m not a believer any more. Peter Kenyon convinced me last Christmas that it was going to get done. I’m never doing that again.
‘I think I could own this football club for ever.
‘That is my new mental state. The reality is with these deals that once it gets out, if it’s not done, it’s probably not going to get done.
‘The day someone buys Newcastle, they’ll do their due diligence – and finished. It will happen like Manchester City. By the time the media find out, it’s already complete. There’s no need for a delay with Newcastle. It is, honestly, a very well-run football club.
‘The last bid, the one from UAE, he’s a prince and he’s got £38bn or £100bn, all these numbers — well, why would you even care what you’re paying then? What difference would £10m either way make? You would want speed, you would want certainty, you would want the keys and to get on with it.
‘I will not stand in the way of Newcastle United. I will not stop that, if it happens. If such a person comes along I will think I’ve done quite a good job and I will want to keep going to watch them. I’ll keep a box, because my parents will demand it. Every time there’s a story that I’ve sold, I get the phone call. “You haven’t included our box in the sale?” When you own a football club, the whole family are in.’