Mike Ashley's forthright message after Newcastle revealed details of the early stages of their arbitration case is being interpreted as a direct message to the Saudi PIF as rumours swirl of a possible move for Inter Milan.
Ashley continues to pursue the Newcastle takeover even as relegation looms and there remains no public comment from the PIF since the summer. Sources close to the buying side insist they would return but in Italy, interest in Inter is being reported by credible sources.
The Italian side reached out to the Saudis, it's understood - who remain in contact with PCP Capital Partners despite withdrawing their funding from the £305million deal which was struck almost 12 months ago.
Ashley believes sending a strong message to PIF is important to keep the deal afloat, hence Newcastle's belligerence towards the Premier League since they effectively blocked the deal. They voted against BeIN Sports' extension of MENA rights last year and criticised the Premier League over pay-per-view games.
But pursuing the arbitration is the strongest indication to the PIF, who were left exasperated by the collapse of the deal, that he wants the takeover to go through.
Ashley's resolve would really be tested if the club were relegated, which would knock at least £100million off the asking price. The Newcastle owner has previously resisted deals which see big discounts if the club go down - but the possibility of a structured deal is open to him if the club are demoted to the Championship.
Those talks haven't taken place but all parties are hoping United don't drop into the second tier.
Ashley is taking a gamble by refusing to make a managerial change while Newcastle flirt with relegation but feels he was burned by past decisions to sack a boss to try and avoid demotion. He is understood to have indicated to Lee Charnley he wants to stick with Steve Bruce, who he trusted enough to release funds to buy Callum Wilson in the close season.
Newcastle's latest financials are said to be "bruising" and Charnley will be under pressure not to fork out the considerable amount it would cost in severance if Bruce did go.
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There was plenty of speculation about the £6.5million "confidential settlement" listed in the Sheffield Wednesday accounts this week and whether it related to the fee Newcastle paid for Bruce and his assistants in 2019.
Sources in South Yorkshire indidcated it did not but all eyes will be trained on Newcastle's latest accounts - due in May - which will include the figure Newcastle paid for the ex-Sheffield Wednesday man.
It's understood the compensation figure for Bruce was around £4million - although Wednesday were angered by the way the deal was done. At the time, Premier League sources suggested the matter was resolved privately and Newcastle did do transfer business with the Owls that summer.
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Steve Bruce's caution on Newcastle tyro Elliot Anderson is bemusing given the player had several offers from Championship clubs to go on loan in January.
The 18-year-old played for the under-23s this week and impressed in the build-up to Adam Wilson's goal in the Tyne-Wear mini-derby. But Bruce does not want to throw him into the relegation mix.
Anderson was keen to go and play first-team football and Newcastle fielded loan offers from clubs throughout the Football League.
With their injuries to creative players, it was thought Bruce might include the player but there doesn't appear to be much inclination to do that.
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Newcastle United's senior management team has been left depleted by the departure of Kate Bradley, formerly the club's business development manager.
Bradley had been in that job since July 2019 after more than a decade working for the club's well-regarded Foundation.
Bradley has joined UK Athletics as their Operations and Strategy Director.
She spoke to a Financial Times football summit in 2020 about Newcastle's ambitions, which included making St James' Park a 365-day a year venue and also "harnessing" United's uniqueness as a one-club city.
It's not clear yet whether Newcastle have plans to appoint a successor.
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Prospective Newcastle United owner Amanda Staveley is keeping her options open in her multi-million pound lawsuit with Barclays.
Although she was denied the right to appeal the judgement this week, she can still petition the Court of Appeal to hear the case and is undecided about whether to push further with the case. She took Barclays to court in a bid to win £600million in costs and was praised as a "tough, clever" entrepreneur in the judgement.
Staveley's PCP Partners were landed with a £19.5million legal bill - underwritten by litigation funders Therium - for the case, which they lost - in the words of their lawyers - despite proving "every aspect of the case bar one".
After the case Khaled Khatoun, a partner at Quinn Emanuel, the legal firm representing PCP, said: “We welcome the judge’s decision, which justly ensures that PCP is not liable to pay Barclays any of its costs of the litigation.
“The decision reflects the court’s recognition of the gravity and scale of the deceit which Barclays was found to have committed on PCP.”
