Mike Ashley has seven offers for NewcastleAlthough much of the attention has so far been focused on a group of Nigerian businessmen, advisers Seymour Pierce have been encouraged by the response they have had since being appointed to sell the club by the Sports Direct tycoon.
Seymour Pierce are expected to spend the rest of this week assessing the bidders before recommending one offer to Ashley, who is seeking around £350 million for the club.
The new details of the auction came as the former Newcastle United chairman Sir John Hall yesterday admitted that he was resigned to the club falling into foreign hands.
Hall, who paved the way for sports retail tycoon Ashley to buy Newcastle last year by selling off his family's shares, said: "Roman Abramovich [Chelsea's owner] changed the game for ever.
''There's nobody in Britain wealthy enough who'd be interested in investing in a football club. Who has this sort of mega-money?
''Even Mike Ashley was finding it difficult with his wealth because £200 million is a lot of money. Premier League clubs are being bought as toys. They'll have them for a few years, then throw them away. These people don't know the passion of the fans. The Premier League is a tremendous brand but I fear for the game and for the fans.''
Mike Ashley has seven offers for Newcastle
Newcastle owner Mike Ashley's chances of securing a quick sale of the club have risen dramatically after it emerged that he had received approaches from seven possible bidders, none of them British.
Hall defended his decision to sell to Ashley who has put the club back on the market following the angry reaction of fans to the resignation of manager Kevin Keegan less than four weeks ago.
"When I met Mike Ashley and his advisors, they had the best intentions for the club," Hall added on Radio Five Live's Sportsweek.
"He wanted to stay there and develop it, so I feel sad for him and sad for the club. He's a good businessman but a novice in the game, as I was when I first came into it. He was coming in to build for the long run and he is a football fan. He had a long-term vision."
Former striker Alan Shearer meanwhile has denied suggestions ? aired by new caretaker manager Joe Kinnear ? that he was on his way back to Newcastle under new owners, stating: "There is no truth in that whatsoever. I don't know where that has come from at all."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/newcastle/3098277/Ashley-has-seven-offers-for-Newcastle-Football.htmlDet mangler hvertfall ikke på interesserte, og det jo egentlig som forventet. Utenifra er jo vi en klubb som har et veldig stort potensial. Syntes Hall beskriver Ashley godt når han sier: He's a good businessman but a novice in the game. Dette så vi for Ashley gjorde en rekke bra ting for klubben, men dessverre hadde han ikke den sportslige innsikten til å kunne takle Newcastle.