MIKE ASHLEY and would-be Newcastle owner Amanda Staveley have had their first face-to-face talks – in a London curry house.
Sports Direct tycoon Ashley is looking to sell the Toon and Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners are the front-runners to buy the club.
It is unlikely that any deal will be done in time for the new owners to give Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez cash to spend in the January transfer window.
But the meeting in an affordable Indian restaurant – which was set up by media mogul Richard Desmond – ended with hugs and smiles, as our exclusive pictures show.
SunSport understands Staveley and Ashley found a common ground during the dinner on Wednesday night and there is a willingness to continue negotiations.
Their mutual friend Desmond joined them for food at Paradise in Hampstead, as did Ashley’s wife Laura.
Our photos show the newspaper and magazine owner, wearing a navy coat and jeans, appearing to punch the air in celebration as he says goodbye to Staveley.
And Desmond repeats the gesture when waving off Ashley, who is in his trademark white shirt and jeans and is driven away by Linda in their 4×4.
Our pictures reflect the positive and friendly mood the meeting was said to be conducted in, with Ashley and Staveley both leaving in high spirits.
And these revelations also dismiss the suggestion from some quarters that Ashley had no interest in talking to Staveley, or that she was not serious about buying Newcastle.
Ashley first revealed he was putting the Magpies on the market on October 16 and he stated that he wanted to sell by Christmas.
Staveley, who attended the Toon’s game with Liverpool on October 1, signed a non-disclosure agreement with the club a few days after Ashley’s announcement.
After doing her due diligence, she made a bid to buy Newcastle last month.
One offer was of a one-off payment of £250million.
Another was of a deal totalling nearer £300m, but involving staged payments and a number of clauses, including compensation if the Toon were to go on to be relegated.
Yet Ashley values Newcastle at closer to £400m so was waiting for Staveley, who runs financial firm PCP Capital Partners, to come back with a bigger bid.
Fans feared that had resulted in a stand-off and the takeover would collapse.
But as our exclusive snaps show, talks are very much on, and both parties are confident middle ground can be reached and a deal can be struck.
The prospect of Staveley taking control of Newcastle before the end of the January transfer window, however, is now all but over.
Negotiations have taken longer than she had hoped, partly due to complications arising from other parties having signed non-disclosure agreements with the Toon earlier in the autumn.
Even after a fee has been agreed, the Premier League requires 30 days to do due diligence and ratify the deal, checking proof of funds and conducting an owners and directors test.
But SunSport understands Staveley has not been put off by that timeframe and is keen to buy Newcastle even if she cannot affect next month’s window.
Of course, the delay does mean manager Rafa Benitez will now be relying on Ashley for any money to spend on signings in January.
The Spaniard is desperate to strengthen his squad with the Toon currently sitting just five points clear of the relegation zone, with only one win from their last ten games.
But Ashley is unlikely to want to splash any cash when his ten-year reign at St James’ Park could be about to be over.
SunSport understands the sportswear magnate delayed a planned trip to America to meet Staveley in London on Wednesday.
Ashley regularly dines at Paradise, which is just a 20-minute drive from his family home in the leafy village of Totteridge in North London.
It is a low-key restaurant, with the cheapest curry costing just £6.45 – 50p less than a chicken curry at the sports bar at St James’ Park.
But it is not uncommon for Ashley to do business in such public settings, as highlighted by the recent court case over his meeting with investment banker Jeffrey Blue in a London pub.
Ashley knows newspaper and magazine owner Desmond through another mutual friend, Dr Keith Harris, an investment banker who tried to help him sell Newcastle in 2008.
While Staveley is a long-time acquaintance of Desmond and was pictured with him in June 2016 at the summer party of PR firm Bell Pottinger.
She would be the face of Newcastle if a takeover is successful, but is using investors from Dubai and Saudi Arabia to help fund the deal via her PCP Capital Partners company.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/5091764/amanda-staveley-newcastle-mike-ashley-curry/Nešto se valja iza brda. Amanda i Mike su se našli u Londonu na pregovrima. Pozitivne vesti.
Međutim, prodaja će možda biti kompletirana tek u februaru 2018. što će ostaviti Beniteza bez pojačanja u januarskom prelaznom roku.
Ma, samo neka se klub proda i da Rafa sa svim svojim znanjem ostavi klub u Premier League, pa da se u letnjem prelaznom roku klub lepo pojača.
Prijem 
