Newcastle United aren’t the only club who’ve been linked with PIF – Inter Milan have too.
While the Serie A side haven’t been as close to a Saudi takeover as Newcastle, the end result is the same. As it stands, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia have been unable to buy a European football club.
They came very close to purchasing Newcastle last year.
Alongside Amanda Staveley and the Reuben brothers, PIF agreed a deal with Mike Ashley to buy the Magpies in April 2020.
However, the deal collapsed after the Premier League refused to make a decision with regards to their Owners’ and Directors’ test.
Since then the takeover has gone down the legal route, with Ashley launching two cases against the Premier League.
Arbitration has been delayed until next year, while a jurisdiction hearing for the CAT case is set to take place next week (29th September).
While we’ve heard from Staveley since the takeover collapsed, PIF have been silent. However, it has always been claimed that they are still interested if a deal can be done.
Could PIF turn to Inter Milan instead?
Earlier in the year, it was reported that PIF had made a move to purchase 30% of Inter Milan. That claim was made back in March.
Inter are desperately in need of investment to help pay off their debts.
Rumours of Saudi investment returned this weekend, but it seems as though Toon fans have nothing to worry about.
According to La Repubblica (via CalcioNews), there have been no talks between PIF and Inter Milan’s Chinese owners recently.
That doesn’t necessarily mean anything good or bad for the potential Newcastle deal – the future of our takeover seems to lie in the courts. But if PIF were to invest in the Italian side, they may completely move away from the Magpies.
But at the moment, all Toon fans can do is wait. But will good things come to those who wait?
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