Manchester United must learn from Newcastle takeover to hand Erik ten Hag dream transfer window

Manchester United cannot allow further delays to their takeover in the same way Newcastle United saw Mike Ashley's ownership extended by an additional 18 months.

While the North East club may now be upwardly-mobile after investing over £250 million in their playing squad, backing by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund was a long time coming. Interest from the kingdom's Public Investment Fund (PIF) emerged in January 2020, two years after the public face of their bid Amanda Staveley first attempted to buy the club in 2018.

All seemed straightforward after agreeing to a £300m deal with Ashley. A request to undertake the Premier League's Owners' and Directors' Test was swiftly filed in April 2020 by the PIF-backed consortium comprised of Staveley's firm PCP Capital Partners and the Reuben Brothers. An initially anticipated four-week wait for a decision came and went, with Premier League chief executive Richard Masters refusing to comment, or place a time frame on the ongoing matter.

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Three-and-a-half months after checks began, the takeover collapsed as the prospective owners pulled out of the process due to the prolonged delay. That meant their acquisition was now untenable after their contract of sale had lapsed. The move eventually completed more than a year later, following a compromise after various interventions from the British, Saudi Arabian and Qatari governments.

For United, such as delay would prompt further questions over what comes next. It has already been four months since the Glazer family put the club up for sale.

For comparison, the Raine Group overseeing this sale process sold Chelsea to Todd Boehly's Clearlake