Shay Given believes Newcastle United could be as big as Manchester City if Amanda Staveley completes a deal to buy the club from controversial owner Mike Ashley.
Earlier last week, Sports Direct tycoon Ashley put Newcastle up for sale, 10 years after purchasing the Geordie club and is hoping to complete any sale by Christmas.
News of Ashley's desire to walk away from the North East outfit has been met with overwhelming joy by the Newcastle faithful, who have accused the businessman of not investing enough money in the squad.
Given was Newcastle's goalkeeper when they were playing in the Champions League under Sir Bobby Robson and he feels the club will be competing at that level again as soon as Ashley sells up.
Speaking at the launch of his autobiography Shay: Any Given Saturday, the 41-year-old Irishman said:
Earlier last week, Sports Direct tycoon Ashley put Newcastle up for sale, 10 years after purchasing the Geordie club and is hoping to complete any sale by Christmas.
News of Ashley's desire to walk away from the North East outfit has been met with overwhelming joy by the Newcastle faithful, who have accused the businessman of not investing enough money in the squad.
Given was Newcastle's goalkeeper when they were playing in the Champions League under Sir Bobby Robson and he feels the club will be competing at that level again as soon as Ashley sells up.
Speaking at the launch of his autobiography Shay: Any Given Saturday, the 41-year-old Irishman said:
Hopefully the club will be taken over because I don't understand why Mike Ashley bought it in the first place.
A club like Newcastle, if it has proper financial backing, it can go wherever it wants really. It's got the stadium and the fanbase already.
Of course it is realistic for Newcastle to be as big as Manchester City, why not? Look where they were when Sheikh Mansour took control, they were lower part of the Premier league. Now you look at where they are now, favourites for the Premier League and one of the favourites for the Champions League.
If Newcastle are taken over, it won't happen that quickly, but they've already got the right manager in place in Rafa BenÃtez and everything is in place.
If there is huge investment in the team, they will be queueing round the block to get into the stadium.
