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Opinion

Will Chinese move save Newcastle fans from Mike Ashley?

8 years ago
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It emerged this week that fresh investment from China has arrived in the Premier League.

Moneybags Manchester City, already rolling in it thanks to their super rich Arab owners, have hived off a 13% stake of the parent company to a consortium of Chinese investors for £265m.

The buyers, CMC (China Media Capital) and investment company Citic Capital, are looking to grow support in the Far East and generate revenue, helping to drive Man City’s almost unstoppable bandwagon of success. Can we not have some of that please!

The deal is a real eye opener. I’d been wondering for a while how long it might take for China to get involved in the English game.

Maybe there was a hint in President Xi Jinping’s recent state visit to Britain, when he visited Man City’s youth training facilities, which has had more spent on it than Newcastle’s first team base at Benton.

All this begs a question. Can we suffering Toon fans look to the Far East for salvation?

Before I’m shouted down and told there’s no chance Mike Ashley will sell up, just think for a second on the price that the Chinese group has paid for a small stake at City. £265m.

For the same amount they could have had all of Mike Ashley’s NUFC shares – the club, the stadium, the players and the TV rights deal.

The Chinese economy has suffered recently, but they remain a powerhouse. There must surely be more interest from the Chinese in the coming years. It may not happen overnight but it will surely happen.

Ashley has milked much from our club. His strategic approach is flawed. The power brokers he puts in key positions are coming up short of the mark.

Clubs with less wealth and smaller grounds are putting us to shame. The Sports Direct supremo may want to cling on, but what if a Chinese investor made him an offer he couldn’t refuse?

My message to our friends in the Far East is to take a look at Newcastle United. It’s a football club that is ripe for a takeover. There is huge potential there.

Without fresh ownership we will continue to see our club sliding backwards.

You can follow the author on Twitter @DavePunton

(To feature like Leazes Park Ender, send in your articles for our website to contribute@themag.co.uk)

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