Mike Ashley has 'logical reason' for selling Newcastle, says expert | OneFootball

A football finance expert has claimed Mike Ashley is looking to sell Newcastle in order to shore his other business interests.

Ashley, who first bought into the Magpies in 2007, has been trying to offload the club for some time now, but a recent takeover bid by a Saudi consortium was blocked by the Premier League.

MASH Holdings’ accounts for the year ending 28 April showed the company had £488m in cash.

The figures also showed that Ashley is “owed” £111m after he gave another interest-free loan to the club.

Ashley is reported to be worth almost £2bn, but respected University of Liverpool lecturer Kevin Maguire believes the controversial Toon owner’s interests have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Whilst the MASH Holdings business had a fair amount of cash at then end of 2019, that would have deteriorated over the course of 2020,” Maguire said, per The Chronicle.

“Ashley doesn’t welcome any form of scrutiny and he uses every available clause in company law to avoid and delay showing his performance in terms of his empire.

“I think it will have struggled over the course of 2019/2020 and it will be having even bigger problems in 2021, and it’s a perfectly logical reason for why he wants to sell the club.”

Survival in the Premier League is crucial if Ashley wants to tempt other potential suitors, and the accounts show he has earmarked £48m for “changes to the playing squad and team management”.