Eddie Howe has a winning percentage of 51.2 per cent in 84 games for Newcastle United. Photo: Getty Images/Serena Taylor
It's been two years since a consortium led by the Saudi Public Investment Fund completed its protracted and controversial takeover of Newcastle United.
Twelve months ago Telegraph Sport looked at what was promised by the consortium, mainly through the group's public face Amanda Staveley and her husband Mehrdad Ghodussi, and what was actually achieved.
Club chairman Yasser Al-Rumayyan intends to publish only his third official club statement to mark the second anniversary of the takeover this weekend. Newcastle have done well on the pitch, returning to the Champions League after a 20-year absence.
In a recent Amazon Prime documentary, Al-Rumayyan, who hands over the day-to-day running of the club to other consortium members as well as director of football Dan Ashworth and chief executive Darren Eales, said his ultimate goal is “to be number one” in the world. We will look at how things are progressing towards achieving this goal.
Continued progress on the pitch
This will always be the most important barometer of a club's success and Newcastle United continues to impress.
Since Newcastle took over, second from bottom in the Premier League, the team has been on an upward trajectory.
Although acceptance at board level will be much more difficult this season than last year and was expected to fall, Hou's team continues to make progress. They look set to be in contention for a spot in Europe again, having gone unbeaten in six games in all competitions, winning five and conceding just one goal.
There has never been a public statement of ambition before any league season. but Telegraph Sport reported that the target was a top 10 finish in 2022/3.
Under Howe, Newcastle have far exceeded expectations, securing a top-four finish and a return to the Champions League after 20 -year absence. They also reached the League Cup final, their first appearance in a major cup final since 1999.
This year we hope to achieve another top eight finish and progress in all three cup competitions. Newcastle currently top their Champions League group after beating PSG 4-1 and are eighth in the Premier League.
Newcastle achieved their best result in decades with a 4-1 Champions League victory over Paris Saint-Germain. Photo: Getty Images/Serena Taylor. the right important decision
Everyone knows Unai Emery was the first choice to replace Steve Bruce in the autumn of 2021, but Howe may have been a much better choice than the Spaniard.
It's a rare honor bestowed upon Newcastle managers when the city bars and pubs go silent when the manager appears on television after a game. He was last seen when Sir Bobby Robson was in charge two decades ago, but that's what happens whenever Howe's face appears. There is silence, and the manager's words are digested and absorbed into almost complete silence.
Howe remains aloof as a public figure. He doesn't like the trappings of celebrity life. He doesn't like to go out into town other than to grab a bite to eat with close friends every now and then or take the kids out for the day. He fell in love with the Northumberland countryside and coastline and spends a lot of his free time there with his dog.
Howe is completely obsessed with football. Working days are from dawn to dusk, seven days a week. His family are used to it, but the former centre-back, shielded from the outside noise on Tyneside, has the ideal personality and temperament to lead such an emotional club.
There is a strong argument to be made that the 45-year-old is the best English manager in decades, especially considering his work at Bournemouth.
“When I took this job, I knew it was important. was a life-changing moment for me,” Howe said. “Luckily it was a great trip. I enjoyed every second of this process. I said that when I arrived I was very proud to become Newcastle manager and I never woke up without that feeling. The feeling that I am doing something special with my life is always present.”
Transfer costs reduced by FFP
Newcastle had the second-highest net spend behind Chelsea in the Premier League between the takeover and the close of the January transfer window earlier this year, but are only as rich as their owners. – PIF is the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world – Financial fair play rules have stifled their purchasing power. The rest of English football will be happy about this, but it has limited the scope for ambitious recruitment.
Newcastle's wage bill has risen sharply over the past two years but remains well below the level of the established Big Six. In the summer the club had to sell one of their best players, Allan Saint-Maximin, to Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal to finance the purchase of Harvey Barnes. Their total spend in the last window was around £140m, less than Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool. This is also less than Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern in Europe.
Rapid growth of commercial income
This is perhaps the biggest change in the last 12 months and Telegraph Sport can reveal that a host of other commercial partnerships are in active negotiations, including one with a well-known entertainment brand that would bring in tens of millions of pounds of additional revenue.
< New sponsor Saudi Arabian events company Sela earns £25 million a year, a significant increase from its previous deal with betting firm Fun88, which was worth less than £8 million a year.
The club also significantly increased revenue from the shirt deal by terminating its existing contract with Castore and moving to Adidas from the start of next season. The German company is set to pay around £40 million a year, dwarfing the sums received from Castore.
New sponsor and manufacturer T-shirts will help improve the club's finances. Photo: Getty Images/Mark Atkins
The board also agreed a multi-year partnership with Sportsbet.io, an online sports technology and betting platform, and a second multi-year partnership with gambling firm BetMGM last month.
All of this will help Newcastle navigate FFP rules. and sources have indicated that the club will have much more room to maneuver in terms of transfer budgets in the summer of 2024 and winter of 2025.
Sports wash issues
These accusations are not going anywhere. Amnesty International continues to criticize Saudi Arabia's human rights record, but after being an international pariah since the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018, the crown prince is rapidly improving his standing on the world stage through diplomacy and economics. muscles.
This is despite Saudi Arabia executing 196 people in 2022, the highest number of annual executions Amnesty International has recorded in the country in 30 years. The war in Yemen also continues, and homosexuality remains illegal in the Kingdom. Domestic dissent is ruthlessly suppressed and punished.
However, despite some tensions, Saudi Arabia remains a key strategic, economic and military ally of the UK and US governments. The British government has also invited the Crown Prince to visit the UK later this year, following a previous official state visit in 2018.
The purchase of Newcastle United is just one strand in Saudi Arabia's attempt to use sport to improve its international reputation and influence. Formula One and boxing have also demanded huge sums of Saudi money, and LIV Golf, a revolutionary tour that once threatened the hegemony of the PGA and European tours, is now welcomed.
Bin Salman brushed off the sports-washing accusations, telling Fox News in a rare interview last month: “If sports-washing increases my GDP by even 1 percent, then I will continue to do sports-washing. I'm aiming for another 1.5 percent. Call it what you will, we'll get that 1.5 per cent.»
There is no new training ground and the St James' Park expansion has stalled.
Newcastle have spent around £10 million improving and updating the existing training system. on the ground, but no progress has been made on the promise to build a new, modern complex elsewhere.
Several properties have been investigated, one of which is on land near the racecourse that is owned by the Reuben family, who bought a 10 percent stake in the club in 2021. But as no planning applications have been submitted, sources told Telegraph Sport it could be at least another ten years before the club moves into new premises.
As for the stadium, its expansion is being considered taking into account “all options.” These include building another tier in the East Stand, as well as exploring the possibility of bringing the Gallowgate End to the same height as the Lees End.
The club has begun a feasibility study on how to develop both stands. is standing and waiting for an answer from the architects about what construction work will be possible, as well as how much it will cost.
However, the land needed for the expansion behind Gallowgate will be turned into a fan zone, something the city council has just given the green light to. This does not mean that the capacity of the stand cannot be increased, but work is unlikely to begin in the near future. The fact that there is a subway tunnel underneath means the work will also be complex and expensive.
At the moment, demand for match tickets far outstrips supply and Newcastle could easily fill the 65,000-capacity stadium people, so there is a strong commitment to the club to increase its potential.
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