The Newcastle Paradox

By continuously recruiting stars from the Premier League, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) may inadvertently weaken Newcastle United, the team they own.

Experts say Newcastle is not the sports project that PIF values the most.

Al Hilal's £46m signing of Darwin Nunez from Liverpool was seen as another strong statement from the Saudi Pro League, but the deal did lead to a transfer domino in the form of Alexander Isak.

Liverpool are in dire need of money to buy Isak, and Al Hilal's recruitment of Darwin Nunez could help "The Kop" gut Newcastle. The paradox arises here, as PIF owns both Newcastle and Al Hilal and they are helping Liverpool buy Isak.

Since taking over Newcastle in 2021, PIF has transformed the face of a football club. However, during the same period, PIF appears to have inadvertently “financially subsidized” Newcastle’s Premier League rivals.

The four PIF clubs in the Saudi Pro League - Al Nassr, Al Hilal, Al Ahli and Al Ittihad - have spent a combined £500m on English clubs, including Chelsea, Aston Villa and Manchester City, in the past two years.

Felix is a notable name coming to Saudi Arabia this summer.

The influx of players has been a huge boost for the Saudi Pro League, but it has also helped improve the financial health of the clubs selling players. Chelsea and Aston Villa, who finished just above and below Newcastle in the Premier League last season, have both benefited amid concerns over the Profitability and Sustainability Regulation (PSR).

Chelsea have made hundreds of millions of pounds from the sales of Edouard Mendy to Al Ahli and Kalidou Koulibaly to Al Hilal, as well as the transfer of Angelo Gabriel to Al Nassr. Joao Felix also moved to Al Nassr this summer for a fee that could rise to £46 million, helping Chelsea solve a difficult problem.

Aston Villa, Newcastle's direct rivals for Champions League qualification, benefited even more with £115m from the sales of Moussa Diaby to Al Ittihad and Jhon Duran to Al Nassr last season.

Newcastle, meanwhile, have only made one significant PIF deal: selling Allan Saint-Maximin to Al Ahli for £19m in 2023. Compared to Brentford, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham, who have made larger sums from the sales of Ivan Toney, Ruben Neves and Aleksandar Mitrovic, Newcastle are clearly limited in their ability to generate revenue from big-money deals.

This affects their spending power, especially when PSR issues have been documented over the past 18 months. Experts say Newcastle is not the sporting project that PIF values the most.

The development of the Saudi Pro League and the 2034 World Cup bid both came after the Newcastle takeover, which was supposed to change everything at St James' Park. In other words, the Magpies are now something of a stepchild to the Saudis.

Source: https://znews.vn/nghich-ly-cua-newcastle-post1575306.html