Buckinghamshire-based billionaire Mike Ashley is set to purchase Headingley Stadium, amid rumours he could become Reading FC’s new owner.

The 59-year-old, who was the main man in charge of Newcastle United between 2007 and 2021, will allegedly buy the cricket ground in Leeds for around £23m, according to the Daily Mail.

Yorkshire, who play at the stadium, are believed to have negotiated an option to buy back the ground that has been their home since 1891 at a fixed price as part of the sale.

The club will continue to play at Headingley as tenants of Ashley’s Frasers Group, who will charge Yorkshire around £1m a season in rent.

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Yorkshire will use the £23m to pay off their £15.9m debt to the Colin Graves Trust, who agreed to defer a £500,000 instalment due last month and will hope to rebuild after finishing second-bottom of the Championship’s second division this year.

The Burnham-based tycoon already owns Coventry City’s stadium in the Championship and is currently exploring the option of purchasing Reading, who currently sit bottom of League One.

The Royals have had a turbulent six years which has seen them go from Premier League hopefuls to become the current basement team in the third tier of English football.

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Numerous points deductions have seen the club struggling both on and off the pitch, however, Ashley remains interested in buying the club after his helicopter was spotted by the club’s stadium last weekend, with the Berkshire club lost 3-2 at home to top-of-the-table Portsmouth.