Newcastle have surpassed expectations since returning to the Premier League following relegation 2 seasons ago.
Despite spending around £44million on summer recruitments – the same amount struggling Everton spent on Gylfi Sigurdsson, the Magpies are currently 9th on the log and are looking like a side capable of finishing in the top half of the table.
Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has put the club up for sale, and erstwhile owner and life president Sir John Hall believes acquiring the club is a perfect investment for any ambitious buyer.
The former chairman and property developer claims with the right planning, Newcastle could be challenging at the top of the Premier League table in some 5 years’ time.
Hall told The Sun: “Manchester United are now worth more than a billion and the rest of the top five or six must be worth £600m to a billion.
“Newcastle have the potential to move up to that level. Instead of buying one of the very top clubs, you could buy Newcastle for the £350m asking price, invest another £350m, then build the club up.
“But you have to stay with it because it will take a good few years to compete with the top clubs. You are talking about a five-year period.
“People coming into football now are usually only in it for the money.
“But investors will be businessmen who take a gamble — and I think Newcastle is a deal that is bound to pay dividends on and off the field.”
It’s said that Ashley will only sell Newcastle to any interested parties capable of taking the club forward, and it doesn’t seem there are shortage of suitors at the moment.
Having failed to fully support manager Rafa Benitez during the summer transfer window, fans are hoping the incumbent chairman let go of the club as he has claimed not to be making profits.
Should an ambitious and supportive investor get to buy the club, the Toons could be on their way to the top as Sir Hall predicts.
