Newcastle United now have the richest owners in world football after the Saudi Arabian-backed £305 million takeover was completed this week.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) finalised the move on Thursday after financing 80 per cent of the bid launched by the Amanda Staveley-led consortium.
PIF has assets worth around £320 billion, which puts them well clear at the top of football’s rich list ahead of Qatar’s Investment Authority, which owns Paris Saint-Germain and has assets are worth around £220bn.
Manchester City now have the Premier League’s second-richest owner in Sheikh Mansour, who has invested over £1.3bn since taking over the club in 2008, worth around £21bn.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, who purchased the club for £140m in 2003, ranks third on the Premier League list with his £10.5bn fortune.
Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke is fourth on the Premier League list with his assets worth £7.8bn.
Speaking after completing the takeover on Thursday, Staveley claimed that the plan was to transform Newcastle United in the same way as Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.
“Of course we have the same ambitions as Manchester City and PSG in terms of trophies, absolutely, but that will take time,” Staveley told Sportsmail.
“Do we want to win the Premier League within five to 10 years? Yes. This takeover is hugely transformative. We want to see trophies. But trophies need investment, time, patience and team work.”
In a separate interview with Sky Sports, Staveley pledged that Newcastle United’s squad will be bolstered with new signings.
“We’ve got a great squad,” she said.
‘I had a great chat with Jamaal [Lascelles] tonight as captain. We’re really excited about strengthening the squad, but we have to work within Financial Fair Play and make sure this is done over a longer term.
‘But you can know and be reassured that we want to invest at every level. We want to get the best squad we possibly can.
‘Everybody talks about it [big signings], but what you need is a team that works well together. That’s also just as important.’
