Newcastle United owners have been questioned by [talkSPORT](https://talksport.com/football/3332335/newcastle-chelsea-manchester-city-transfers-club-world-cup/#:~:text=Specifically%20on%20that%2C%20Borson%20remarked,but%20in%20the%20Champions%20League.) and accused of indirectly helping the Premier League rivals we are trying to overtake.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) have just put millions towards the Club World Cup this summer, acting as the tournament’s main sponsor in a major investment that has turned heads.
It’s said that Manchester City have, this preseason alone, made the same amount that Spurs got for winning the Europa League.
Chelsea, who’ve just beaten us to a £55m deal for Joao Pedro, have also doubled what they made by winning the Europa Conference League last season, making £40m already following their progression to the Club World Cup quarter-finals.
Discussing PIF’s investment and indirect funding towards ‘big six’ rivals, financial expert Stefan Borson told talkSPORT: “PIF who own Newcastle are behind all of the money we just talked about at the Club World Cup.”
“They are funding a whole list of teams that they are not only up against in the Premier League, but in the Champions League as well. So, you have an immediate, bizarre contradiction”.
It’s a source of frustration for some fans, although we must remember that Newcastle are just one part of a huge PIF portfolio, meaning they will not always act with the club’s best interests at heart.
Then again, following Yasir Al-Rumayyan’s bold plans to transform Newcastle into the “number one” club in football, it’s easy to see why certain PIF moves, or lack of them of late, have been questioned.
Borson continued, discussing Newcastle’s ‘very cautious’ approach under Saudi ownership that’s seen us fail to ‘push boundaries’ like Chelsea, who’ve found PSR loopholes galore to boost their spending power:
“It’s clear Newcastle have taken a very cautious approach. Why they haven’t pushed the boundaries in the way that Chelsea did, they would have to explain.
“It could be because they don’t want to attract a whole load of focus from the Premier League due to the Saudi background, and have therefore, played it very cautiously.
“That caution has meant they’ve been close to breaking the PSR limit, but managed to avoid it. But they didn’t buy anyone in January, when it looked sensible to do so, and sold Lloyd Kelly and Miguel Almiron.
“You are now seeing an approach that I suspect will mean they won’t spend the money that you would associate with ambition.”
Do you think talkSPORT have a valid point here? Would you like to see PIF give more consideration to Newcastle in our attempts to close the gap on our ‘big six’ rivals?