Less than 24 hours after Mike Ashley publicly put Newcastle United up for sale, we already have a reported front-runner to take the club off his hands.
Murat Ülker, Turkey’s richest man and chairman of Yildiz Holdings, is believed to be looking into buying the club and is ready to pay £220m in order to do so, claim the London Evening Standard.
Yildiz Holdings is a European food empire which owns a number of recognisable names in the biscuit industry including McVities, Jaffa Cakes and Penguins, but it appears as if the Turkish company are ready to step into the football world.
Ülker, along with a number of other potential buyers, have been doing their due diligence in regards to taking over Newcastle in recent months as Ashley confirms he is seeking a sale before Christmas.
The Ülker family’s London representative, Tom McLoughlin, who has brokered a number of deals involving football clubs, said:
The Ülker family have substantial assets and significant investments already in the UK.
We understand football and our initial specific target would be to make Newcastle a solid top six club and a permanent feature in Europe with a popular local and worldwide following.
In addition, Ülker, worth a reported £2.8Bn according to Forbes, is ready to back Benitez with a £60m transfer budget if he takes charge before the January transfer window.
