It is almost one year to the day that PIF, Amanda Staveley and Jamie Reuben and completed a takeover of Newcastle United.
On October 7th 2021, they purchased the entire club from Mike Ashley for £305million. PIF bought 80%, with the other 20% being split between Staveley and Reuben.
It ended an incredible saga that dragged on and on, and at one point never looked like reaching a conclusion.
The Saudi-backed takeover was first rumoured in January 2020. By April, a deal had been agreed with Ashley. But in August, the bid was withdrawn amid issues with the Premier League’s Owners and Directors Test.
Fast forward more than a year into the future and a random October in 2021 brought a breakthrough. On October 6th, rumours began to swirl that the deal could be on. 24 hours later and it was done.
Newcastle have come on leaps and bounds since last year’s takeover, and are heading in the right direction.
However, majority shareholders PIF could be involved with another Premier League club had things gone differently.
PIF could have bought 30% of Man United but said no
As the takeover anniversary nears, Toon chairman and PIF chief Yasir Al-Rumayyan has conducted an interview with the Socrates podcast.
In the interview, Al-Rumayyan admitted that PIF had the chance to buy a stake in another Premier League club before moving for Newcastle.
“For example, in the UK there was a team that approached us on the basis that we take 30% of the ownership, and we don’t interfere at all in terms of managing the club, for £700million,” he said.
“Then we bought Newcastle, who offered us 100 per cent of the ownership.”
And the Athletic add that the club in question is believed to be Manchester United. They state that reports in 2019 suggested that Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was interested in a takeover of the Red Devils.
That obviously did not happen, and PIF took full control of the Magpies in 2021 alongside Staveley and the Reubens.
The price quoted for just 30% of a club is staggering. That is more than double what Newcastle cost in its entirety.
It sums up what a good deal the new owners got. With less money spent on actually purchasing the club, it allows them to invest more heavily into improving the side.
And that is exactly what is happening at St James’ Park. There have been huge changes on and off the pitch, and Newcastle are looking up.
Eddie Howe is building an exciting team, while he is backed up by Sporting Director Dan Ashworth and CEO Darren Eales.
However, none of this would have been possible had PIF agreed to buy 30% of Man United instead.
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