Newcastle United could face £100M devaluation – plus more gloomy predictions made by financial expert

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Football finance expert Kieran Maguire, when speaking to Chronicle Live revealed his belief that Newcastle United being relegated to the Championships could have serious, negative financial implications for owner Mike Ashley.

It seems as though we have been discussing the prospect of Newcastle being sold since the dawn of time. As Chronicle Live mention in their report, Ashley is willing and eager to sell, but it hasn’t yet come to fruition.

If Ashley has decided that it’s time to cash-in, he ought to be crossing his fingers that Steve Bruce can halt their slide towards the relegation zone, as it could cost him as much as £100M, as is reported by Chronicle Live.

The man who came to that conclusion, football finance expert Kieran Maguire, also had this to say when speaking to Chronicle Live:

“There’s a variety of ways of trying to value a football club. It’s a combination of art and science.

“Ultimately if we’re going to say that the valuation of a club based on the amount of cash it generates, a period of time in the Championship has a hugely negative impact.

If you go down and you don’t come up within a couple of seasons, then the £300m asking price for Newcastle collapses very quickly.

“Look at Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Derby or Nottingham Forest, they could easily sell more tickets in a higher division. Their values have been impacted.

“We have Ipswich Town who are apparently going for £17.5m, and I’m old enough to remember when they were a Premier League club and in the top half on a regular basis.

“If Newcastle don’t have a good start to the season – why pay £300m when you can buy Derby for £60m and put the remaining money into the squad?”

The best case scenario for Newcastle fans, as it has been for some time, is for Ashley to sell-up and leave. They will be hoping and praying that they can beat the drop, not only to maintain their Premier League status, but to ensure he doesn’t back out of selling through fear of the losses he could make.

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