According to the Chronicle, Newcastle United would be handed a competitive transfer budget in order to try and compete with the top six should the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund be able to complete their potential takeover from Mike Ashley.
Indeed, that may seem somewhat obvious given the fact that teams such as Manchester City and PSG have undergone complete changes following investment from the Middle East over the years but the insight does suggest it wouldn’t be quite the same level. After all, those two clubs have spent major money to win domestic trophies aplenty, but it seems the Toon wouldn’t be getting budgets to realistically target a Premier League title, for example.
What does this mean for Newcastle?
In all honesty, given the gulf in class between Newcastle the top four already, it’d have been somewhat ambitious to think they’d get the kind of investment to challenge powerhouses such as Liverpool and Manchester City. However, with the top six understood to be the aim, there is certainly precedent for smartly-run clubs willing to spend funds being able to get there.
Leicester City – for example – are currently third in the league as things stand (though Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United being in transitional periods might also have helped their position) after smart recruitment, spending big money in the right places on the likes of James Maddison, Youri Tielemans and Ricardo Pereria.
Wolves, again, are another good example, having plotted out a long-awaited return to European football from the Championship after a project undertaken in recent years to have seen its recruitment policy praised in recent years.
With that in mind, while the idea of seeing a change in the club such as the one at Manchester City seems unlikely even if there is a takeover, that does not mean the Toon couldn’t be up there with some of the major success stories in the league.
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