Aston Villa chief has just resigned after criticising Newcastle ownership

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Christian Purslow, who took aim at the Newcastle United ownership back in April, has resigned from his post at Aston Villa.

The announcement was made on Monday morning that Purslow would be stepping down from his job as CEO and director at Villa Park. He departs Aston Villa after five years, having been appointed back in 2018.

Purslow leaves Villa in a stronger position than the one it was in when he joined. They are now set to return to Europe, having finished in seventh place under Unai Emery to qualify for the Europa Conference League. Villa fans will be very exciting about competing in that competition – especially after seeing West Ham go all the way and win it.

However, there will now be a major change behind the scenes at Villa – just like there has been at St James’ Park in the past 12 months. Darren Eales was appointed by the owners to be the Newcastle United CEO, arriving from Atlanta United. Villa will be hoping to appoint someone who is as forward-thinking as the Toon chief.

As for Purslow, his decision to leave Villa comes less than two months after he asked questions of the Newcastle ownership.

Christian Purslow questioned Newcastle ownership

The Newcastle United ownership has come under a lot of scrutiny since they bought the club for £305million from Mike Ashley back in October 2021. The involvement of PIF is the issue, with the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia owning 80% of the club.

Their involvement raised questions over state ownership in football – although the Premier League received legal assurances that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would not be involved in running the Magpies. This then led to the takeover being passed almost two years ago.

Questions over PIF’s links to the Saudi state were then brought back up in recent months due to their involvement in LIV Golf. They have been involved in a court case with the PGA Tour, and were described as part of the Saudi government during the proceedings.

This led to Purslow telling Sky News in April that the Premier League should take another look at the takeover at St James’ Park.

“Yes, I do [think they should look at it again],” he said.

“And I think they are. And they would.

“If there is a contradiction in representation made at the time of the takeover, as to the nature of the relationship between the rulers of that country – the sovereign wealth fund and Newcastle – of course, the Premier League, I’m sure, are investigating that.”