Shepherd ready to make Magpies swoop

Jun 7 2009 by Neil Farrington, Sunday Sun

FREDDY SHEPHERD is weighing up a cut-price bid for Newcastle United this week.

The Sunday Sun understands the former Magpies chairman is poised to offer Mike Ashley around £75 million for the club.

Shepherd’s move, which is set to be backed by overseas investors, is thought to be advanced enough for the process of due diligence – in which would-be bidders scrutinise the club’s finances - to be well under way.

When contacted last night, Shepherd refused point blank to make any comment.

But time is of the essence, with the long-time United supremo surely recognising the urgent need to resolve Newcastle’s managerial situation.

Shepherd has ploughed much of the £37m he banked from selling up to Ashley in 2007 into business projects aimed at creating local jobs.

But the only job of interest to the whole of Tyneside is the United manager’s post. Erstwhile caretaker boss Alan Shearer is still waiting for assurances from Ashley over United’s future before agreeing to take charge full-time.

But Shepherd would be willing to give those assurances, recognising that keeping Shearer on board in the long term is the overwhelming priority at St James’s Park.

The former England captain cannot afford to be kept waiting by Ashley, with the BBC likely to soon want to know if he plans to return to his role as a TV pundit next season.

It remains to be seen whether Shepherd would face serious competition in his buy-out bid, or how Ashley will regard the opportunity of selling up to a predecessor in the United boardroom.

Keith Harris, the investment banker asked by Ashley to find a buyer for Newcastle, was in the Middle East last week to gauge interest there.