Joseph DaGrosa drops new takeover hint amid legal moves at Newcastle United

DaGrosa spoke about his attempt to buy Newcastle United in an interview with the Gazette last year.

"We were actually a bit further along than most people realised,” said DaGrosa. “We spent a lot of our resources, internally as well as externally – we had hired (accountancy firm) KPMG to work with us – and we did a lot of homework on the team and on the league.

“That information is obviously helpful to us as we look at other clubs.”

DaGrosa – who wants to create City Football Group-style a network of clubs – went on to launch a bid for Southampton, but he has not been able to agree a price with majority shareholder Gao Jisheng.

The American investor, it’s been claimed, could return with another bid for Newcastle – or switch his attention to Crystal Palace or West Ham United.

Speaking to Off the Pitch, DaGrosa said: "If we wanted to write a cheque for what sellers are looking for right now, we could close a deal today if we wanted to. That's not the issue at all. We pride ourselves on being disciplined investors. We're not looking for a fire sale price on clubs.”

DaGrosa wants to do a deal well before the summer transfer window.

"No one wants to be negotiating or closing during the summer trading window," said DaGrosa. "So, logic would suggest, we would want to get a deal done, and the seller would want to get a deal done, prior to going into the summer trading window, because that radically affects the finances of clubs one way or the other.

"For a clean break, and a clean start, certainly a deal needs to be done before the summer transfer window."

DaGrosa also insisted that he has sufficient financial backing.

“I would say we've got very strong financial support, and for the target size of clubs we are looking at, we’re very comfortable that we have the capital we need to get the acquisitions done and to adequately capitalise them post-closure," said DaGrosa.

Meanwhile, United owner Mike Ashley is trying to resurrect a proposed £300million sale to a consortium led by Amanda Staveley through legal action.

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