Saudi Arabian owners invest £70m more into Newcastle

Newcastle United’s Saudi Arabia-linked owners, led by Yasir Al-Rumayyan, have invested a further £70m into the Tyneside club, as announced on the own NUFC website on Wednesday.

This capital will be destined to “finance investment in infrastructure and day-to-day operations.” Stated in the note released to the press by the club, Newcastle says that “the ownership group—comprising PIF, PCP Capital Partners and RB Sports & Media—has invested a further £70.4 million of equity into Newcastle United FC.“

The investment is related to the already-ongoing revamp of the training facilities of the club, the improvement of the short- and long-term home of Newcastle in St James’ Park, and the recruitment of more senior executives “to build out the commercial operations of the club.”

The note also mentions a part of the money influx will be used for “investment in the playing squad,” which can be understood as a pump of cash ahead of the January transfer window in order for Newcastle to have enough funds to keep strengthening the roster for the second half of the season trying to secure a top-4 finish and a place in the UEFA Champions League.

Photo by Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images

Darren Eales, who signed with the Magpies while the season was already started a few weeks back, said that “[Newcastle] are at the beginning of a long-term plan that aims to build a club that can compete consistently at the highest levels of English and European football,” confirming the expectations and targets of the board.

Eales, speaking as the CEO of NUFC, added that “[Newcastle] need to develop the whole business, as well as the playing squad.” On top of that, he calmed the fans out there worried about the threatening FFP and those wondering about how such vast investments of money could work under such heavy scrutiny: “we need to do so while adhering to the Financial Fair Play rules.”, said Eales. “This additional investment further enables us to continue implementing the business plan.”

Newcastle will move to their new adopted home of Saudi Arabia during the World Cup break in order to hold a mid-season “warm-weather training camp” in the country before coming back to England to dispute the second half of the season.