Mike Ashley will take legal action against the Premier League over Newcastle's failed Saudi takeover

Mike Ashley has hired a QC who refers to himself as the ‘Lionel Messi of Sports Law’ in a bid to prove the Premier League were wrong to ‘reject’ the Saudi-led takeover of Newcastle United.

Sources close to the Magpies owner say he has been told he has a strong case against the League and believes they did not apply the rules of their Owners and Directors Test correctly.

Ashley is now ready to bring legal action and has turned to Nick De Marco QC, one of the country’s leading sports lawyers whose previous clients include Tyson Fury, Harry Kane and Peter Beardsley. 

Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has appointed two lawyers in his row with the Premier League

It is said that Ashley has not given hope of bringing the Saudis back to the table and is not motivated by winning compensation.

Newcastle boss Steve Bruce has said that the takeover is ‘dead in the water’ but sources claim the Saudis would return were the deal to be guaranteed approval.

Ashley released a statement last week in which he accused the League’s chief executive Richard Masters of not acting ‘appropriately’ during the Owners and Directors Test and claimed the £300million deal had been ‘formally rejected’. 

The League responded to say that Ashley was ‘incorrect’ and said they were still waiting for ‘all appropriate information’ from the proposed buyers, which includes Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners and the Reuben brothers. 

The consortium withdrew their offer in late July citing economic reasons and frustration with the League’s refusal to accept that they and the Saudi state were separate entities. The buyers also refused the League’s offer of independent arbitration.

But it now appears that Ashley wants his day in court against the League.

Ashley (bottom left) was in attendance as Newcastle beat West Ham 2-0 at the weekend

A statement from London-based Blackstone Chambers read: ‘Shaheed Fatima QC and Nick De Marco QC are acting for Newcastle United FC and Mike Ashley (instructed by Dentons) in a dispute with the Premier League about its rejection of a takeover bid made by PCP Capital Partners, the Reuben Brothers and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) based on its Owners and Directors test.’

However, other sources close to the process do not understand how legal action can be brought when the takeover was not formally rejected and the buyers publicly announced their withdrawal.

They also say the League’s test allows them absolute discretion to approve a takeover or otherwise via the clause ‘reasonable objective opinion’.