It was reported last week by The Athletic that Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehayan is close to a takeover of Derby County. Sheikh Kahled is the cousin of Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour and it he was recently in talks to take over Newcastle United. So what happened to that deal? What's he thought of on Tyneside?
We spoke with Neil, a life long Newcastle United supporter and a contributor to various fans groups, local newspapers and fanzines. He was the founding chair of Newcastle United Supporters Trust. Neil moved to Dubai nine years ago. When news broke Bin Zayed Group (BZG) were interested in purchasing Newcastle United, he knew someone working within the group. After the bid failed, he sat down with Midhat Kidawai, the group managing director of BZG in the BZG offices in Downtown Dubai. They tried to get the deal back on track, however they were unable to get BZG back to the table.
Who is Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehayan? Okay, this caused A LOT of confusion when they were interested in Newcastle United. THIS Sheikh Khaled is the chairman of Dubai based Bin Zayed Group. (Therefore this by definition is a DUBAI bid not an Abu Dhabi bid even though he is part of the Abu Dhabi ruling family - going forward this is more important than you may realise). Sheikh Khaled is distantly related to Man City's Sheikh Mansour - their grandfathers were brothers.
Why does he want to buy a football club? Football club acquisition is something on the minds of many large groups here. Football is THE sport in the Middle East bar none. It is a way to raise profile, have some fun and if you get it right clubs purchased at the right price can deliver good short-term Return on Investment (ROI). How that stands now in the post-COVID world is anyone's guess however. Midhat Kidawai the group's CEO is football daft. He's a huge Liverpool fan, I'm sure he won't mind me saying that, and someone who is very enthusiastic with regard to BZGs future in football.
He's reportedly tried to buy both Liverpool and Newcastle. Do you know why the deal fell through even with Mike Ashley desperate to sell?
Mike Ashley at that time was not a desperate seller. He is a difficult seller. There were a number of reasons the bid failed but in my opinion the main one was Mike Ashley's insistence on a non-refundable deposit and wanting to change terms after a deal was agreed. Sheikh Khaled was very upset and offended at this and ultimately that broke the whole deal apart.
Did you get the impression that he could back up the talk with money? Indeed. Having had the opportunity to look at their bid in depth after it failed I don't think money was an issue. Do you know how much liquidity he has? He's valued at £118 billion but is that tied up in ventures or does he have cash on hand? I have seen a wealth statement but again how that profile has changed with regard to COVID, etc., I couldn't say and it would be unfair for me to guess.
Do you get the impression that he genuinely interested in owning a football club or do you feel that he just sees it as a play-thing and cash machine? See answers above. Any Middle East investor wants a ROI at some stage. That's just business.
His cousin, Sheikh Mansour owns Manchester City. Do you think Sheikh Khaled would take the same care of a football club as Mansour has? I think the Manchester City model is one which many potential Middle East investors must look at as a role model. From having spent time in the offices of BZG and worked with them I would say they always give an air of a company that would value and care not just the club but the city and community it is in.
When he was courting Newcastle, did anything come out about a master or grand plan for the club?
Very much so. They had some interesting and out of the box ideas. How to grow the club outside of Europe. Key ideas to integrate club and city and community more. I'm sure they would want to bring some of that to the table. Was there any thing he wanted in terms of a restructure of the club (board room, etc.)? I think many of these things are a club to club individual basis. At NUFC it was infrastructure and training ground for example.
Where you and other supporters disappointed that he didn't purchase the club? Very. Midhat engaged with the fans (probably a bit too much) and there was genuine excitement at the prospect of the Ashley era being over. What is his long term goal in football? To win trophies or to make money? They don't get involved to just be involved.
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