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Diamond sheds light on new investors and sends Borthwick stern message
By Chris Jones
Steve Diamond, the Newcastle Falcons director of rugby, has revealed there is global interest in buying the club from current owner Semore Kurdi, who has bankrolled the Gallagher Premiership’s North East outpost to the tune of £20m.
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After ending their debilitating league run of defeats with successive wins over Exeter Chiefs and Saracens, Newcastle are a more attractive prospect for a buyer and Diamond has been asked by the Kurdi to be part of the negotiations with potential investors.
Diamond, who takes his team to Pau in the European Challenge Cup this weekend, said: “We are confident that when people see what the package is and what they are buying into then I am sure it will be desirable. Anybody investing in a business wants to see it moving forward and behind the scenes the club is in very good condition. A new investor would have to invest in the commercial side and the playing squad.
“There is activity now with people showing interest and the first process is getting the due diligence done, knowing what the numbers are, what the buyer is buying and once someone shows some interest that is the process we will go down. We will get activity and there is a lot of support from the league and the Union and I would be denying it if I said there wasn’t interest already being shown and quite a lot is being shown by individuals based in the North East and globally. I can’t say more about that at the minute because it needs substantiating.
“None of the Premiership clubs are spending the £6.4m salary cap because you have a marquee player at say £700,000, academy credits of £600,000 and your injury dispensation so they are spending £8m and we are spending £3.5m. How can you win a game spending a third of what the others are spending? If you look at the rough maths, if we were to spend £5.5m which is still £2-3m below everyone else – then we would then probably bring in eight international players circa £250,000 each.”
Diamond believes his players deserve higher honours and insisted “only a fool” would fail to recognise the international claims of captain Callum Chick and Jamie Blamire who have powered the team to those wins over Exeter Chiefs and Saracens. “I am convinced that with those guys (in our team) playing as they are then only a fool coaching at international rugby wouldn’t look at them. I say to the players go out and put yourselves in the shop window and if we win fantastic. That is what Callum Chick and Jamie Blamire do every week along with all the players here.”
Blamire has signed for Leicester next season in a bid to kick start his England career while Newcastle are battling to hold onto Chick who is reportedly on the radar of Gloucester with No 8 Zach Mercer set to return to France.
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Steve Borthwick, the England head coach, has visited Kingston Park and while Chick has been overlooked due to England’s numerous back-row options, Blamire was called into an international training camp at the start of the year. He has scored six tries in his seven caps for England.
Diamond is positive about the future even if he loses key players, adding: “I knew we could do with a pre-season and if I could get a couple of coaches to come in with me which we have with Lee Dickson and Alan Dickens to supplement the coaches already working here. The players bought in and while Jamie Blamire is going we will find another Jamie. He has gone for ambition and Leicester is a bigger club but I am pretty sure in two years time he will be knocking on the door about coming back.
“I am going to Newcastle United in the New Year and they have invited me to see how they do their recruitment which will be interesting. My recruitment is simply based on statistics and character and I have a knack of getting it right. I speak to players who have played with these guys and if they don’t get past that stage and they are an energy sapper then I won’t put the analysts on them. When I built teams at Sale, Worcester and here, that is what you need we can teach them everything else.
“We have won five out of six (in all competitions) and have Dragons at Kingston Park and Bath in the Christmas fixture and we need to be winning at home.”
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