Ex-Sunderland director wants to buy Newcastle
FORMER Sunderland director Charlie Chawke admitted yesterday that he is plotting to buy bitter local rivals Newcastle.
Chawke, part of the Drumaville consortium that bought Sunderland in 2006, said he had opened talks about buying the Magpies from sportswear tycoon Mike Ashley.
The Irish publican faces competition from several other groups, with Malaysian and American consortia reported to be the leading contenders to buy the Championship club, which has a £100m price tag.
“We are in talks with Newcastle at the moment. Our legal and financial people are speaking to the legal and financial people over there,” said Chawke.
“Negotiations are not too advanced. It’s at an initial stage but we have got a fairly good response. There’s great interest, it’s just a matter of putting the money together.
“Newcastle is a very viable option at the moment. It’s for sale for about £100m, which is about £500m less than it was worth a year and a half or two years ago.”
Chawke added he would be joined in any bid by Louis Fitzgerald, who was also part of the Drumaville group that sold its Sunderland stake in May.
Ashley put Newcastle up for sale for a second time after their relegation from the Premier League on the final day of last season.