In the summer of 2019, it was hoped that the Bin Zayed Group would be Newcastle’s saviours.
The club was at a crossroads. Rafa Benitez’s contract was coming to an end, with no sign of a new deal as long as Mike Ashley owned the Magpies.
The one slither of hope came in the shape of a takeover.
In May 2019, it was reported by The Sun that Ashley had agreed to sell the Magpies for £350million.
The buyer was Sheikh Khaled, the leader of the Bin Zayed Group.
The report claimed that a deal was agreed and contracts had been submitted to the Premier League. They were going to invest big money into the squad, as well as keep Benitez at St James’ Park.
Then nothing happened. The deal collapsed and Benitez left, with Steve Bruce arriving as his replacement.
There were Whatsapp chats and strange statements, but nothing came of it.
It was a shambles of a takeover saga, that scarred a lot of fans ahead of the next round of rumours when Amanda Staveley returned to the table.
But the Bin Zayed Group returned, and have once again been up to their old tricks.
Derby takeover called off
After their failed attempt to buy Newcastle, BZG turned their attentions to the Championship.
In October 2020, The Athletic claimed that they were in talks to buy Derby County. Soon after, doubts emerged.
And now the deal is off.
According to the Telegraph, the takeover has been scrapped, leaving the Rams ‘furious’.
Mel Morris had set a deadline of Monday for BZG to provide the necessary funds. BZG failed to meet that deadline, and now negotiations have ended.
This signals the third time that Sheikh Khaled has failed to buy a football club. First it was Liverpool, then Newcastle, and now Derby County.
While a lot of fans wanted BZG to takeover in 2019, the saga at Derby shows what a near miss it was. Then again, perhaps it wasn’t near at all.
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