Kieran Maguire

Sun 27 February 2022 10:04, UK

Amanda Staveley may have fronted the legal fees for the Newcastle United takeover on behalf of her co-owners.

That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about events behind the scenes at St James Park.

Staveley owns a 10 per cent stake after a consortium led by the Saudi Public Investment Fund completed £305million deal in October last year.

Former owner Mike Ashley is suing the 48-year-old financier for an alleged breach of the terms of a £10m loan used to facilitate the takeover.

As per BBC Sport last Saturday (19 February), official court documents show that she also borrowed £30.5m from a separate lender.

This revelation has raised eyebrows as Staveley has previously claimed she used her personal fortune to fund the deal.

Part of the £40.5m borrowed by Staveley may have gone towards paying lawyers and the red tape needed to complete the takeover, claims Maguire.

“If that’s 10 per cent of the legal fees, we’re all in the wrong business,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.

“I suspect that it is partly for due diligence costs incurred as well as legal fees.

“She might have managed to recover some of that from her other business partners if she has been the bridgehead for this.

“It is a slight cause of concern because people were under the impression that she was independently wealthy.

“Having to borrow from Mike Ashley to buy from Mike Ashley is an unusual circularity.”

Newcastle are up to 14th after their 2-0 victory over Brentford yesterday (26 February).

Eddie Howe’s side are next in action against Brighton next Saturday (5 March).

In other news, “out of order” Newcastle United fans slammed by Paddy Kenny.