Newcastle United’s supposed summer of retooling is going completely wrong, at least for now, with the Magpies having sanctioned two big sales (Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali) and having completed the purchase of a backup goalie and nothing else, and with another member of the XI set for a likely sale in Bruno.
All of that has brought fresh scrutiny on the direction of the club, with even more key players linked away and supporters waiting for signs of a stronger rebuild as PIF has remained silent
throughout it.
Former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson spoke to Football Insider and told the outlet there are growing concerns over PIF and its investment and commitment to Newcastle, which ultimately might derail Newcastle’s trajectory toward bigger football heights.
“There’s clearly an issue generally in the club,” Borson said. “The players clearly want to leave.”
Borson pointed to recent developments around the club, including Newcastle’s front-of-shirt sponsorship situation and the growing uncertainty around several XI members, as the main reasons for concern.
“There’s definitely something going on with the Saudis in terms of them pulling back investment,” Borson said. “And you can see that from the front-of-shirt deal that they’ve ended up having to do with KNOX.”
PIF became Newcastle’s controlling owner in October 2021 after a £305million takeover, but it’s been reported that the Saudi might already be working on selling a minority stake.
Not only have Newcastle sold Gordon to Barcelona and Tonali to Tottenham, while also bracing for a Bruno sale, but they are facing the exits of Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento, too. And even worse, the club keeps missing on primary transfer targets, as was the case with Victor Munoz, who joined Liverpool instead of the Magpies, adding to frustration around the ongoing window.
“Things are not great there, clearly. All of the momentum that they built up with the Champions League and finishing really well in the league, all of that’s dissipated,” Borson said. “And it’s a really challenging situation they’ve got now this summer.”
