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Chained and caged for the last 13 years, English Premier League club Newcastle United, by all accounts, are possibly approaching the end of a tunnel, which only a few months ago, didn’t seem to have a light at the end of it. On the home stretch, with all the negotiations done, documents signed, and a deposit paid, the paperwork now lies with the Premier League to ratify so that the club's ownership can officially change hands.
The consortium, that has all but got their hands on ‘The Magpies’, is being led by British financier Amanda Staveley, property builders David and Simon Reuben, and Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund PIF (Public Investment Fund). The involvement of the PIF is a game changer. Worth an astronomical $ 260 billion, the PIF will make Newcastle the richest club in England, so much so that the rest of the 19 owners’ combined wealth wouldn’t be able to match what the Magpies will have at their disposal.
The amount is huge for any club, especially for one that since 2007 more or less had to rely on selling players in order to buy new ones. In fact, Newcastle didn’t break their transfer record from 2005 to 2019, during which period all other Premier League clubs did so, some of them multiple times over.
A lot of pundits and experts have been wondering if this is the right time to be buying a football club. But on the contrary, this could be the perfect time to buy one. The ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic will be felt throughout global football, if they are not being felt already. The football world is not insulated from the global economy. For one, Newcastle's new owners would get the club for $40 million less than what was initially mooted, because of the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the world economy.
Sunny days ahead?
.
Every club, no matter big or small, has to balance their books of accounts. That will not change irrespective of the health of the economy. One positive aspect of present owner Mike Ashley's Newcastle reign has been the fact that the club has always adhered to the FFP (Financial Fair Play) rules. If the club's new ownership is ratified by the Premier League, Newcastle would be able to spend a decent amount of cash on new players this summer.
Along with players being available at lower prices owing to the COVID-19 situation, wage demands will also be low, which will provide a lot of wriggle room to work around for the new owners. In this respect, it must not be forgotten that one of the many malevolent acts of Ashley was to stifle the club’s commercial income, so there is an entire blue ocean out there awaiting exponential growth. All that will add to the kitty, and every bit helps.
In addition, it has been written previously that the owners lying in wait, plan to make the club a global powerhouse. They plan to invest in an academy and a training ground. The twin additions will add a new dimension to a club that has been starved of many football related aspects in recent times.
Would Newcastle be the newest Premier League champions?
.
As Newcastle look upwards, there are clubs in the Premier League and in Europe that are or have been on a decline. Take a look at the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, or even Manchester United. There is definitely an opportunity here for Newcastle to penetrate the top end of the domestic table, much like they used to in the mid 1990s and early 2000s. If Leicester City could do it (in 2015-16), then why not someone else? Manchester City, before their takeover, wouldn’t have thought in their wildest dreams they would be rubbing shoulders with the very best.
Newcastle have won four English top-flight titles, but none of them have been won in the Premier League era. Infact, their last win in the Engish first division, as the English top-flight was then known as, came almost a century ago in 1926-27. Under new ownership, the club from Newcastle upon Tyne could be the newest Premier League winners. Newcastle had an incredible near miss in 1995-96 when they squandered a 12-point lead atop the top of the table to Manchester United.
The Magpies have drawn the likes of Barcelona, Juventus and Inter Milan in the Champions League in the years gone by. That, once again, has to be one of the aims of the club going forward. It is not going to happen overnight, probably not in the next 2-3 years, but with the right vision, the club will get there eventually. Once they are there, much like Manchester City, they would be able to throw money to get whichever player they possibly want. In this respect, Newcastle would do well to learn lessons from the mistakes City made, not falling into the same trap and see themselves fined or banned due to falling foul of FPP regulations.
Big European clubs have had an underwhelming couple of seasons. Barcelona suffered two humiliating defeats at the hands of AS Roma and Liverpool in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Real Madrid were hammered 4-1 by a youthful Ajax side at home last season. Apart from the Spanish duo, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus have dominated domestic leagues, but haven't fared as well in European competitions lately. Off course, it is not to suggest that the European malaise of big clubs will continue forever, but an opportunity exists for Newcastle in the European theatre.
Newcastle United supporters once unveiled a banner that read:
"We don’t demand a team that wins, we demand a team that tries."
Being a supporter of the club myself, I also share the same emotions. But with what potentially lies in wait, one can’t help but get a little bit excited, and want more.
