Newcastle's takeover by Saudi Arabia's PIF has 'zero chance of success', says Jordan

The case has reached the Competition Appeals Tribunal, with current owner Mike Ashley believing that the potential takeover was unfairly stopped by the Premier League.

Newcastle were the target of a blockbuster £300million sale to the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, which is chaired by Mohammed bin Salman, the incredibly wealthy Crown Prince of the country.

However, the fund didn't pass the league's Owners & Directors Test in the summer of 2020, and Ashley believes the association has a case to answer.

Former Crystal Palace owner and talkSPORT host Simon Jordan says Magpies fans desperate for a cash injection from the PIF shouldn't get their hopes up though.

"This idea that Newcastle is going to get bought by this PIF fund, this is deader than a dead thing from dead land," Jordan said.

"It's only the people that want to keep it running for their own motivations, whether that's Amanda Staveley because she wants to save face for the Horlicks of a deal she's manufactured, or whether it's Newcastle fans because they're wishing and wanting."

Jordan, who was chairman at Selhurst Park between 2000-2010, believes that the case is merely gesturing by Newcastle, who believe the league doesn't want another financial powerhouse.

"I don't expect it to lead to any particular disclosure," he said. "I don't expect the Premier League to be giving anything that vaguely resembles something that can be made mischief of.

"That suggests that XYZ football club has leveraged [Premier League chairman] Richard Masters into having a biased attitude towards a potential new fox in the henhouse of the big six that controls the Premier League, that's all they're looking for."

Ashley is claiming £300million in damages, the cost of the failed takeover, which he believes the Premier League blocked in an improper way.

The Premier League say they didn't reject the takeover and instead asked for proof of a distinction between the PIF and the Saudi state itself, which wasn't forthcoming, and the consortium later walked away.