Newcastle owners set to fund Lionel Messi and Karim Benzema offers to Saudi Pro League

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Newcastle United’s 80% owners are said to be putting the money in for deals for Lionel Messi an Karim Benzema to join the Saudi Pro League.

While Newcastle have seemingly been linked to every player under the sun since the PIF took over at St James’ Park and the Magpies were anointed with “The Richest Club In The World” status, it has been quite easy to separate the fanciful from the realistic.

However, Newcastle fans likely had to do a double take this morning as The Mirror boasted that the Newcastle owners were set to cough up the funds for moves for Lionel Messi and Karim Benzema.

Messi and Benzema aren’t coming to Newcastle

On closer inspection, while that is true, it’s not to bring them to Newcastle United, but rather to tempt them to join Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Pro League.

As the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia is all about the development of the aforementioned country, it makes sense that the PIF would be heavily involved in trying to grow the status of its burgeoning football league. As The Mirror states: “The PIF has signed 20-year commercial agreements with the four most popular teams in the Pro League. And they also sponsor the league itself through one of the companies they own, real estate developer Roshn.”

No figures have been mentioned but they are said to be sizeable offers on the table to tempt the stars to move, and it’s believed that the league can boast a ‘hefty’ war chest.

This shows that PIF will spend when they’re allowed to

One thing Newcastle fans can take away from this is that it’s evident that PIF will spend money if they believe something is a good investment. If we weren’t hampered by Financial Fair Play then the football world would be our playground. For better or worse.

For me, the fact that we have made Champions League with the likes of Sean Longstaff and Jacob Murphy playing such pivotal roles makes it a lot sweeter. While it would be fun to watch Eddie Howe go on like a contestant on Supermarket Sweep filling his trolley with World stars and buying success, doing it our way is so more statisfying.