Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan has dismissed talk of a Saudi-based takeover bid for Newcastle United.
Jordan says he doubts Amanda Staveley's latest attempt to buy Newcastle.
He told talkSPORT: “Without getting into details I don't think Mike (Ashley) pulls out of deals (for the club). I don't think the cheque is on the table to do a deal.
“I've always believed that this big idea that Sports Direct is underpinned by Newcastle as a branding opportunity is nonsense. Sports Direct was floated for £1billion way before – or alongside – the time he bought Newcastle United.
“I've always thought that if someone wants to pay the price he wants for it – and I've always thought that's between £300 and £400million – if they write a cheque I'd be very, very surprised if he didn't take it. But we keep hearing about this deals and they land in the public domain – all the shape of it, how much it's going to be for.
“Well we do hear about deals (before they happen) but you don't hear the exact shape of it, the numbers, how much of a stake people have in it. But you do at Newcastle, because people are using it as leverage to try and make Ashley do a deal for a price that favours the buyer, not the seller. And you don't get a deal done that way."
Addressing the specific Staveley-led consortium, Jordan said: “I'm not defending Mike. First of all you don't see many big clubs being sold these days. You see clubs in distress being sold, ie Aston Villa. No-one knows what they paid and the structure of it until they come through the door. But when you hear about the precision of the deal with Newcastle – which is how much they will pay for it, who is making up the deal, the Reuben Brothers and the Middle East consortium – well first of all they don't seem like likely bedfellows as they both have the ability to do the deal in their sleep and why they need Amanda Staveley evades my thinking.
“I just think that if the deal is real and it's put to Mike Ashley then you will find out factually from the supposed buyers. You hear a deal fell apart but you don't hear people call Ashley out and say 'We put £350million on the table'. When do you hear that conversation?
“You can hear Newcastle fans saying 'You told us you'd sell the club and you haven't'. But Mike's not in that position and I don't think he's going to be put in that position. I don't think this deal will happen."
