Ashley is said to want £300m for the club, which he acquired less than seven months ago for around £134m. That's a 124 per cent increase in value for a club and enough to tempt him out of his black and white Alan Smith replica shirt.
Money Rules Ashley's World!
Ashley is said to want £300m for the club, which he acquired less than seven months ago for around £134m. That's a 124 per cent increase in value for a club and enough to tempt him out of his black and white Alan Smith replica shirt.
According to this morning's Guardian, the billionaire made £930m for an afternoon's work when he floated his company Sports Direct (which includes brands such as Dunlop and Lonsdale).
Within weeks, however, three profit warnings were issued and up to half of the value was wiped from the company.
So the man knows when to grab the cash and do a runner.
There are allegations that Ashley has started buying back the cut-price shares at a discount price, so he is certainly active in the market.
And when Sam Allardyce was sacked, and the manager merry-go-round was in action, Ashley was at the other end of the world doing deals.
Is Mr Ashley about to make a fast buck from the Toon?