A MYSTERY Malaysian consortium is understood to have stolen a march in the race to become new owners of crisis club Newcastle United.
The Chronicle understands that a bid in excess of £80m has been made by the group, who were given a full tour of St James’s Park, the city and the training ground yesterday by managing director Derek Llambias. Mike Ashley was not present.
In a dramatic turn of events the group, who even dropped in to Shearer’s Bar, made their way from the city to the training complex and then from Whitley Road to Benton Road to check out the club’s Academy.
The focus then moved on to the west end of London, where talks continued with Llambias and Seymour Pierce, the investment bank put in charge of the United sale.
A United insider told the Chronicle: “The group were given the full works around the stadium and at the training ground.
“They watched the players train and this proved a bit of distraction for a lot of them who are wondering what the heck is going on at Newcastle.”
Yet while takeover talks continue, it remains to be seen whether the Malaysians will want to hand the manager’s job to Alan Shearer.
It leaves other interested parties such as former chairman Freddy Shepherd, currently in Portugal on a golfing break, waiting to discover if their efforts to take control have been enough.
And it could spark off a frantic bidding war as the chase for United hots up.
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