Newcastle United are now up there with the big boys.
Having qualified for the Champions League just a year into the PIF era, the club are back on the top table of European football.
The challenge now of course is to stay there.
Finishing in the top four cannot yet be taken for granted at this early stage of the new Newcastle era.
Indeed, it’s not hard to imagine Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham all improving next season after difficult campaigns last time out.
Eddie Howe will get his first look at the Blues in particular next week when the two teams meet at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Atlanta.
Mauricio Pochettino – strongly linked with Newcastle before the takeover – has now given his verdict on the club.
Mauricio Pochettino says Chelsea are in a “different zone” to Newcastle
Speaking from Philadelphia (via The Chronicle), Pochettino issued a valuation on where the two teams stand at this moment in time.
After such a huge rebuild at the club, the former Tottenham manager believes Chelsea and Newcastle are in a “different zone”.
“Every team comes here [Premier League Summer Series] in a different place,” he said.
“Our team is brand new and is in a different zone. Other teams have continuity within their team with their manager and players.
“But we all come here and we’re preparing on working on next year.
“We’re focused on our objectives and building a base for next season.
“We want to make sure Chelsea gets back to where they deserve to be. Some teams like Newcastle are preparing for the Champions League and other teams have the continuity like Brighton, that’s not an excuse, we come here to try to build, at the end of the day all we want to do is win.”
Chelsea’s ownership shows how badly Newcastle could have got it wrong
Co-owner Todd Boehly has been criticised for the sheer number of changes at Stamford Bridge since the takeover in 2022.
In stark contrast, the rebuild at Newcastle has been pretty much smooth sailing, particularly compared to that.
While its too early to write Chelsea off under their current ownership, it goes to show just how easy it is to get taking over a club over wrong.
It wouldn’t be difficult for the west London giants to pose Newcastle much more of a threat next season and Pochettino certainly has a strong track-record but the sheer scale of changes has obviously cost them, in the short-term at least.
That could have easily happened to Newcastle and we must count our lucky stars it hasn’t.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
