Simon Jordan has Newcastle United takeover message for fans after getting it 'completely wrong'

Simon Jordan has admitted that he got it “completely wrong” about a Newcastle United takeover – a week after claiming a proposed deal was “dead”.
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A £300million takeover of the club by a consortium which includes Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is set to be confirmed today after the Gulf kingdom ended its ban on Premier League rights-holder beIN Sports.

However, former Crystal Palace owner Jordan dismissed the sale last week when he said: “This idea of Newcastle being bought by the PIF fund is deader than a dead thing from dead land.”

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Jordan has admitted his error on talkSPORT today. He said: “Earlier in the week I said it was deader than a dead thing from dead land.

“So I look completely wrong, and I am wrong, because I didn’t envisage that the Saudis were still there. I didn’t see out of left field that they would acknowledge the key driver.

“All this separation stuff is a misrepresentation. Separation (between the Saudi state and PIF) was because the state was sanctioning piracy. That’s the reason they wanted separation, because if the state wasn’t behind this bid, they didn’t need to worry about piracy.

“The whole key component has been piracy.

“Before the show ended yesterday, I was very shocked. I got an email from somebody of quite significance telling me this was coming down the line. I said to our producer yesterday ‘wait and see – Newcastle will be back on now.”

St James's Park.St James's Park.
St James's Park.
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Jordan added: “For all the Newcastle fans who want to (rub it in) – yes, I got it wrong,”

Financier Amanda Staveley, part of the consortium buying Newcastle, had an explosive exchange with Jordan on talkSPORT in July.

"I know you’re not pro our deal,” said Staveley. “I’m not going to get into a spat. You have your opinions, and that’s fine. You’ve never met me. You don’t know who I am. You’ve never looked at our business plan.”

Jordan asked if PIF were still “there” behind the bid.

Staveley said: “We’re all there. We’re all passionate about Newcastle. All the consortium members are. I’ve made that very clear.”