Kevin Keegan reveals Newcastle United takeover hope amid legal moves

Keegan has spoken to Alan Shearer, his world-record £15million signing, about the future of the club he served once as a player and twice as a manager.

The club is again fighting to stay in the Premier League after a difficult few months on the pitch.

This season is being played out against the backdrop of attempts to resurrect a proposed £300million takeover, and Keegan – who turns 70 tomorrow – was asked where the club stood by Shearer for an interview for The Athletic.

“You have to give people hope,” said Keegan, who opened up about his second spell as manager in an autobiography in 2018. "It won’t go on forever. Someone, somewhere, will see the benefits of that great football club.

"The problem with Mike Ashley is that he didn’t really know what he was buying. He doesn’t get it. But if he doesn’t understand what it’s about, he should hire people who do."

Keegan went on: "Even if he keeps the ownership, he just needs to put bright people in charge. That’s all Newcastle needs.

"I don’t care what anybody says, it’s a special club. It’s not like any other club. If you’d said in 1927, the last time they won the league, that nearly a century later they wouldn’t have won it again, people would have laughed at you.

"It needs direction, leadership. It needs understanding of what it is. It could all change with new ownership. You never know, it might just be around the corner."

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