Rival Newcastle United takeover group watching Saudi deal progress with interest

When contacted by the Gazette to answer claims they are still interested in buying the football club from Mike Ashley, the group declined to comment on the speculation.

Reports in the Athletic suggest DaGrosa could turn his attentions to United, Crystal Palace or West Ham should Southampton owner Gao Jinsheng not lower his asking price of £200million for the Saints.

However, it is understood DaGrosa, the former owner of Bordeaux in Ligue 1, does still view Newcastle United as the perfect purchase, as he looks to dip his toe into the Premier League.

In 2019 New York investor DaGrosa, flanked by former Chelsea and Manchester United chief Peter Kenyon, failed to negotiate a deal with Ashley in 2019, despite several rounds of talks.

Describing the United talks, DaGrosa, speaking in May 2020, said: “We were actually a bit further along than most people realised. We spent a lot of our resources, internally as well as externally – we had hired KPMG to work with us – and we did a lot of homework on the team and on the league.”

He continued: “Newcastle is the profile of club that we’d like to buy. There are a few others out there that are in our sights, but that’s exactly the type of club that we’re looking for.

“We’re not looking at a big six club at this point, purely from a cost point of view, but there’s a few others out there that look very interesting.”

Should DaGrosa fail to conjure a Saints deal – he’d have to pay in the region of £160 million for an 80% stake – he would be forced to join the queue for United, with the PCP Capital Partners-led consortium still in the takeover driving seat.

Ashley, with trusted lieutenant Justin Barnes and top QCs Nick De Marco and Shaheed Fatima, is attempting to push the proposed £300 million-plus takeover through legal channels, with the idea that main shareholder, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, will return to the table with a clear path to a deal.

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