‘We were interested’ - Newcastle United takeover failure paved way for ‘seismic’ £300m deal

Ipswich Town co-owner Brett Johnson has revealed he “looked” at potentially buying Newcastle United or Sunderland.

As it happened, the businessman invested into the Tractors Boys three years ago - a move that has proved a masterstroke. With US investors Gamechanger 20 as the main shareholder, Ipswich have catapulted from League One to the Premier League.

Back-to-back promotions means Town are preparing for their first top-flight campaign since 2002. Ipswich have spent around £60million to give them a chance of survival - with more arrivals possible.

As for Newcastle, they were bought by a Saudi-backed consortium just six months after Johnson acquired Ipswich. The Public Investment Fund (PIF) have pumped over £400million into the Magpies and qualified for the Champions League in 2022-23. 

But how different could Newcastle’s fortunes been had Johnson - partnered with former Manchester United and Chelsea executive Peter Kenyon - won the keys to St James’ Park? Sunderland, also taken over in 2021 by Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, were another club on Johnson’s radar.

"My partners and I looked high and low because we were interested in England and I had been approached originally by Peter Kenyon to potentially partner up on Newcastle," he told the Business of Sport. "This happens for no fault of anyone's but, for a lot of reasons, we couldn't get that deal done.

“But it gave me a real taste and desire to try to figure out a different opportunity in England. We looked at a handful of other ones, a lot of whom were publicly on the market, including Sunderland. 

“Ultimately, what I really wanted to find was an opportunity where we could try to negotiate a deal in good faith. A lot of times what happens is you work on a Newcastle or a Sunderland deal and someone comes in at the 11th hour and it will get retreated on you."