David Hopkinson has only formally been in his new role as Newcastle United’s CEO for just over two months, but the Canadian’s vision for us has already started to take shape.
In the midst of an intense 100-day audit of the club, Hopkinson has already met with fans, senior officials and even Alan Shearer himself to help steer the club in the right direction from a financial and executive perspective.
Wanting to ensure everyone employed at the club is aligned and united with a shared vision of taking the club forward, we can only infer that the recent departures of Peter Silverstone, Dominica O’Neil and Joe Mack as Hopkinson exerting some influence on who should and shouldn’t be with us.
And now the former Head of Global Partnerships at Real Madrid is wanting to bring in another commercial mind, with the CEO’s priority looking to be that we become a financial powerhouse as soon as possible.
According to [The Mail’s](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-15265157/Newcastle-Confidential-Wissa-return-Botman-contract-Tonali.html) Craig Hope, David Hopkinson is now actively pursuing a new technical accounting expert to join the club’s commercial team.
Hopkinson is keen to see the club navigate Premier League and UEFA spending rules in a more effective way, tasking any new arrival to ‘closely monitor’ any changes to ensure Newcastle maximise their potential within the world of PSR.
Their role will ask them to completely understand and advise on the financial benefits and potential hindrances of any future projects, whether that’s regarding a new training ground, sponsorship opportunities or lucrative pre- and post-season tours.
Having already been hamstrung in the past, we cannot afford not to exploit any loopholes or opportunities which other clubs like Chelsea, Manchester United or Manchester City have happily maximised in recent reasons.
For months, fans have been waiting for news on not only a heavily-rumoured new training ground, but also training-related sponsors.
We’ve already added the likes of Guinness and Visa to our commercial portfolio as of late, and Hope hints that Hopkinson’s search for an accounting expert could mean that an announcement of some magnitude is coming soon.
The permanent sales of Alexander Isak, Lloyd Kelly and Sean Longstaff will have gone a long way towards helping our PSR situation and giving us some headroom to act in the coming windows, but with European football not guaranteed for next season, we shouldn’t risk putting ourselves into a financial predicament like we did two seasons ago.
So whoever this technical accounting expert ends up being, they’ll have some pressure on their shoulders alongside Hopkinson to ensure that our financial situation is booming and more than doubling season after season: making sure any new facilities and sponsorships provide maximum benefit will be imperative.