It's not a nice time to be a Newcastle United fan.After a mediocre season where they finished 13th in the Premier League it was hoped that the club could be entering a new and exciting era in their history.Unfortunately that doesn't appear to be the case.A £300million takeover from Amanda Staveley and a Saudi-backed consortium looked like it was going to be a game-changer, with the Toon Army tipped to become the richest club in the country.But after a lengthy ratification process from the Premier League, the buying party decided to withdraw their interest citing 'the prolonged process under the current circumstances coupled with global uncertainty' as the main reason.Speculation continues to mount over what is next for the takeover, with Henry Mauriss being tipped as a potential investor moving forward.
However some supporters are still clinging onto the hope that the existing offer can be brought back to life.One obstacle with that is that after withdrawing their offer it could be the case that the entire process will need to go back to the very start, meaning that a deal would be months away at best.However according to George Caulkin of The Athletic, there's a chance that the process could pick up where they left off - as long as clarity is provided by the Premier League.
He tweeted: "I’m speculating, but I doubt it would have to start all over again.
"But, yes, something would have to shift.
"There’s big pressure being applied to the PL. Will it work?
"I’m telling myself it’s over because that’s easier. But it’s definitely worth pushing for transparency anyway, in my opinion."
GIVEMESPORT'S Phil Spencer says...
This would be quite a turn up for the books.
Newcastle United supporters are absolutely distraught over what happened last week, and rightly so.
Investment from the PIF would have been an absolute game-changer for the football club, as well as the city and region.
To become England's richest club would have been hugely exciting with the Magpies then harbouring ambitions of closing the gap on the top clubs.
But that doesn't seem like it's going to happen - or does it?
It would be a huge u-turn if Amanda Staveley and co. were to get the deal back on - particularly with plenty of issues still festering behind the scenes.
The Premier League need to provide clarity over what has happened, and once that is done then everyone can assess how to move forward.
However if that doesn't happen then it's going to be very difficult to get this proposed £300m deal back on the table.