Moat still keen on Newcastle takeover

Moat reportedly made a £80million bid for the club to Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley.

But Ashley wants the full £80million up front, where as Moat where only prepared to pay £60million with guarantees of a further £20million next season.

“For one reason or another it didn’t come to pass,” he told Sky Sports News.

“It’s extremely disappointing. It’s something we’d given up a lot of time and effort and abortive costs with so I’ve been feeling pretty bruised by the whole process.

“As my wife keeps telling me, ‘No one’s died’ so you’ve got to get on. That’s fundamentally where I see it now.

“I think from my perspective I don’t think Mike Ashley wants to stay at St James’ Park for the long term, so I’ll never give up.

“I’ll keep beavering away in the background and hopefully one day we’ll get there.”

Moat is hoping that Ashley will make additional investment to strengthen the club’s squad in January.

“Hopefully he’ll make some investment in the club. Hopefully we’ll get some commercial partners,” he continued.

“Hopefully the money will be spent on the playing squad and that bears fruit and we get back to where we deserve.

“Let’s face it Newcastle is a massive club. 43,000 to 44,000 people turned up there the other week to watch Peterborough.

“No disrespect to Peterborough, but they brought some great fans. This is Newcastle United, it is a massive club.

“It’s a global brand and it should be at the top of European football.”