PIF now set to take control of four more clubs after successful Newcastle takeover

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Newcastle United’s 80% stakeholders PIF are set to take the reins of another four football clubs which could see huge benefits for Newcastle.

It seems like PIF‘s Newcastle takeover has gone so well that they’ve been well and truly bitten by the bug, and are now set to invest in four more clubs in a deal that will definitely seem odd to a lot of people.

The reason the move will raise eyebrows is that the four clubs the PIF are investing in all play in the same league – the Saudi Pro League.

The PIF will fund four clubs in the Saudi Pro-League

The Athletic have done a deep dive in to the deals and how they will work, but essentially PIF will take a 75% stake in each of the four clubs with a non-profit organisation taking over the remaining 25%.

PIF will provide the funds to bring in world-class players that will help to grow the profile of the Saudi Pro-League with the aim to make it one of the top 10 leagues in the world. With the report stating: “Plans for the 2023-24 season will see each of the four PIF-owned teams target a minimum of three world renowned names per club. A smaller number of world renowned players are expected to be distributed among the other sides in the league.”

You may recognise the names of one or two of the clubs the PIF will takeover – Al Nassr, Al Hilal, Al Ittihad, and Al Ahli. Al-Hilal were Newcastle’s opponents in the mid-season friendly which saw Jacob Murphy lifting the Duriyah Season Cup aloft like it was the Champions League tropy, and Al-Nassr currently boast one Cristiano Ronaldo amongst their ranks. Al-Ittihad are the side who have reportedly scooped up Karim Benzema.

A Dubai-based Newcastle fan has answered some questions in a handy twitter thread

The big question is how does this affect Newcastle? Well, initially it likely won’t, but a detailed thread on Twitter from Dubai-based investor and Newcastle fan, James Kevan, has explained how it could open doors for the Magpies in the future with one of the key points being: “Newcastle United can potentially leverage talent from these Saudi clubs and vice versa. This can enhance talent development and make transfers within the network more cost-efficient. A shared scouting network could also uncover new talent more effectively.”

Kevan also put out another thread going into detail of why the deal won’t help Newcastle skirt around FFP in any way so we shouldn’t be expecting to see Karim Benzema in a Newcastle shirt any time soon.

There are a lot of moving parts here, a lot of which are too much for my tiny brain to comprehend, but the bottom line is, PIF’s interest in other clubs in no way diminishes their interest in Newcastle, in fact it can only help it.