BeIN SPORTS presenter Richard Keys has once again waded into the Newcastle United takeover debate.
The former Sky Sports anchorman and Coventry City supporter riled Toon fans last week with his comments about the Saudi Arabian investment and Newcastle United.
Keys admitted he wished it was another club - and not Newcastle - who was poised to receive the incredible cash injection.
And now he has described the takeover, expected to be completed in the coming days, as an area that new Premier League chief executive Gary Hoffman will need to tread carefully around.
Keys accused Saudi Arabia of allowing the illegal showing of beIN SPORTS' Premier League coverage across the Middle East in a move that he claims cost his employers over 400 jobs and millions of pounds.
Hoffman previously held strong ties with Newcastle United as the chief executive of Northern Rock during the bank's big rebuild, a bank once synonymous with the football club, thanks to their iconic shirt sponsor.
“I know him very well, he’s a very good friend of mine, Gary Hoffman. He's a Coventry fan and brilliant lad, 100% fit for the job," he said on beIN SPORTS
“An absolutely brilliant, 100 per cent football man to the core. I have stood on the terraces at Gillingham with him when Richard Shaw scored - we were both there.
“He has tried to buy the club [Coventry] on a couple of occasions.
“For me, you couldn’t get a better man - but there’s a little issue which I think he and the Premier League have to overcome.
“And that surrounds the stand-off at the moment between the Premier League, Saudi Arabia, Newcastle United and beIN SPORTS because Gary was previously resurrecting Northern Rock.
“Northern Rock is based in Newcastle, used to sponsor Newcastle. I’m not saying for a minute his decision would be swayed by previous affiliations but it’s a conflict of interest he’ll want to distance himself from. The timing of the announcement is extraordinary.”
