EFL Chairman makes bold Reading FC claim involving Mike Ashley live on TalkSPORT | OneFootball

Highlights

Darragh MacAnthony, the chairman of Peterborough United, has said that Reading would be lucky to have former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley as their new owner.

The club has been in a lot of trouble for money that it owes to HMRC, and they've had two separate points deductions for this season; one was for three points, the other cost them one point.

currently sit bottom of the League One table, eight points off Northampton Town who sit just outside the relegation zone.

What is going on with the sale of Reading FC?

Despite the dire state of the club, there have been some potential suitors that have been linked with taking ownership of the club.

A report from The Telegraph said that William Storey, who had previously, and eventually unsuccessfully, invested into Haas F1 Team, had agreed a £50 million deal to buy the club from current owner Dai Yongge.

But, on Wednesday, Storey said, on X, that he and his investors had pulled out of the race for the Royals. In the same post, he said that a contract had been signed. This was later refuted by Reading Chronicle journalist James Earnshaw, who believes that the businessman had never signed any contract, and was never given exclusivity, despite Storey's claims in the X post.

Sky Sports have linked Ashley with buying the club, although Lyall Thomas, a reporter for the sports outlet, suggests that the owner's asking price is still too high, and that potential buyers may be biding there time until the club goes into administration.

Peterborough United Chairman on Mike Ashley owning Reading

MacAnthony has said, on talkSPORT, that the former Newcastle owner will: "save them, and he'll be the best owner that they can have." He added: "I promise you, if Mike Ashley buys Reading, it'll be the best thing for the Reading fans."

Many football fans will be aware of the businessman's reputation in the northeast. He was lambasted for years by supporters of the Magpies for his lack of wanting to spend any money. The Walsall-born man isn't short on cash though.

Financial expert Kieran Maguire has said that Ashley has upwards of £500 million in the bank through his MASH Holdings account. Forbes puts him in the top 550 richest people in the world, with a net worth of $5 billion (£4.06 billion).

The Posh's chairman said that Ashley could buy the Royals in an hour if he wanted to, but that he's probably waiting until things get worse at the club. This would mean more points deductions, which could see them end up in League Two. But the Posh chairman doesn't see that as being much of a hurdle.

"He (Ashley) will take them from League Two, to the Prem(ier League), in six years," said MacAnthony.

Would Mike Ashley be a good owner for Reading?

The claims by the Peterborough chairman about going from the fourth tier to the top table in six years are quite outlandish, but he's certainly got the wallet to get them out of the situation now.

It'd be understandable for Reading fans to look at the comments of waiting until they're in a worse state to go and bail them out with some distain. If you could save the could now, then why wouldn't you? But Ashley is a smart businessman at the end of the day, and his record at Newcastle shows he won't spend unnecessary money.

This might also be a point of concern for the Royals' faithful. But the scale of spending in League One and Two compared to the Premier League is miniscule; it'd be a drop in the ocean for the Sports Direct owner.

Ultimately, whoever buys the club, whether it be before or once the club goes into administration, will be in the good books of the fans. The 59-year-old has wealth to blow all other competition out of the water, and that'd be an exciting prospect for Reading fans, much like it was for Newcastle fans when he left.