Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been linked with a potential bid to buy Newcastle United, is actually 'focused' on taking control at Manchester United instead, according to one report.
Bin Salman is thought to be behind a consortium who are considering an offer of £340m to buy the Magpies from polarising owner Mike Ashley - although he certainly would not be the first person to fail to strike a deal with Ashley.
As noted by The Mirror, no offer has been submitted as of yet, and that is because Bin Salman is still evaluating whether it is worth reigniting his interest in buying United instead.
It is said that the Saudi Prince was prepared to pay £3.5bn to buy the Red Devils 18 months ago, only for the current owners, the Glazer family, to insist they were not interested in entertaining offers.
Links between the two have persisted ever since, the latest of which came back in October 2019, and it is thought that buying United is Bin Salman's primary goal.
He wants to purchase a club in the Premier League, and ideally wants that to be United, but speculation suggests he would be prepared to settle for Newcastle, who would obviously be available for far cheaper.
However, Ashley is thought to be sceptical about Bin Salman's interest in the Magpies. Given he is yet to receive any offers, Ashley is prepared to continue with Newcastle and was even happy to finance a £35m bid for Lille midfielder Boubakary Soumaré, which was ultimately rejected by the player.
“Mike is getting fed up of hearing or reading about proposed interest from different parties in the media," a source close to the owner is quoted as saying.
“It’s why until he actually sees the colour of somebody’s money he remains highly sceptical about whether there is genuine interest in purchasing Newcastle United.”
Steve Bruce's side currently find themselves tenth in the Premier League table, just four points behind in the race for Europa League qualification.
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Source :
90min
