South Africans Linked To Newcastle Bid

A South African consortium is the latest investor to be linked with Newcastle United and is believed to have tabled a bid in the region of £300m to buy the club.

The group is one of eight investors believed to have been approached by investment bank Seymour Pierce who is handling the sale of the club for owner Mike Ashley.

The asking price for the club is thought to have dropped from a reported £480m to £300m – a price that would still give Ashley a £50m profit on his investment in Newcastle during his 16 month tenure.

The five-strong South African group are thought to be keen to bring back crowd favourite Kevin Keegan, who walked away as manager last month, with the former boss set to be offered a 5% stake in the club in a bid to persuade him to return for a third spell at the helm.