File photo dated 16-08-2026 of Newcastle United manager Matthias Jaissle, who told his detractors he does not care about their opinions amid a wave of negativity for his Newcastle side ahead of the start of the new season. Issue date: Thursday August 20, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Andy Commins/PA Wire.
Matthias Jaissle is the new face of the Newcastle project (Photo: PA)
Newcastle United‘s owners the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) believe the club is now valued at £2bn and remain “steadfast and committed” with plans to have “spades in the ground” on a new stadium project by 2030.
It has been a summer of change at St James’ Park with three major sales and what insiders admit has been a “hard reset” of approach and recruitment.
That has sparked anxiety about the future ambitions and intentions of PIF but in multiple conversations with sources close to the majority owners The i Paper has learned there is no prospect of a full sale of the club anytime soon.
Instead, the fund – which has invested close to £1bn in the club – have privately pledged that more investment will follow in the coming years.
PIF is understood to see Newcastle, purchased for £350m in 2021 but now worth six times that, as one of the fund’s best recent investments, and at a time when Saudi Arabia is re-assessing priorities and the plug has been pulled on the expensive LIV Golf project, that might be welcome news for supporters.
‘PIF still fully believe in the club’s ambitions’
The soaring value is partly down to the Premier League’s continued global appeal and the appetite among US investors to have a slice of that.
But insiders believe Newcastle’s huge improvement on the field is the big driver behind the valuation, which has been backed up by the amount of interest generated by PIF’s openness to selling a minority stake in the club in exchange for investment into the club’s pivotal stadium project.
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 21: Newcastle United Sporting Director Ross Wilson and Newcastle United Chief Executive Officer David Hopkinson during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD3 match between Newcastle United FC and SL Benfica at St James' Park on October 21, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
Sporting director Ross Wilson and CEO David Hopkinson (Photo: Getty)
The i Paper has been told that US private equity firms Arctos Partners and KKR are among those who have held talks but it’s stressed that a full sale has never been on the table.
“PIF aren’t going anywhere. It is not a vanity project, it is a measured investment, but there will be more significant investment in Newcastle United and they still fully believe in the club’s ambitions,” one source told The i Paper.
Engagement has certainly not dwindled. Contact between PIF’s Head of Europe Direct Investments Jacobo Solis, who is on Newcastle’s board, and CEO David Hopkinson is said to be daily, via calls and WhatsApp.
The ‘world-class’ £190m investment
Given some of the anxiety around a team that looks undercooked for the Premier League opener on Sunday against Liverpool, it helps that the owners have written the first of two “big cheques” to fund the two most important infrastructure projects of the next few years.
Thursday saw confirmation of the first, a £190m investment – fully covered by PIF and co-owners the Reuben Brothers – to fund an “elite, world-class” training facility on a sprawling 260-acre site to the south of the city’s airport at Woolsington Hall.
The plans have been in the works for almost a year and early visions of it – which will include refurbishing a derelict country house on the estate – are said to be “breathtaking”.
The £190m investment was announced on Thursday (Photo: Newcastle United FC)
Hopkinson, the club’s ambitious CEO, hailed it as a “landmark moment” for the club and it has been pointed out that the investment is a sign of long-term commitment on behalf of the owners.
“This is going to be a ‘woah’ building, believe me,” said one insider.
That it has taken so long is a puzzle to some. But PIF’s approach has always been measured – much to the surprise of even Newcastle’s rivals.
When they took over there was a fear that they would ape the vanity projects of Abu Dhabi and Qatar and pump millions into the squad via sponsorship deals. New rules were rushed in by the Premier League to stop them but the paranoia was misplaced.
A future deal with games giant EA?
Even this summer, as Newcastle shopped around for a new front of shirt sponsor, there was no “helping hand” from PIF’s portfolio of firms. A deal was instead brokered with South African firm Knox Hydrate, who have also partnered with the club for naming rights for the training ground.
So what happened? It has been stressed to The i Paper that PIF firms, some of whom are start-ups with low cash reserves, are “autonomous” and any sponsorship deals must follow strong “business logic”.
There will never be any leaning on businesses to help Newcastle out although that does not mean there won’t be tie-ins in the future where there is a good business case.
PIF recently completed a £40bn deal to take a majority shareholding in Electronic Arts and sources believe there’s enough alignment that a sponsorship deal with the games giant can be worked out in the future.
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Allied to that a raft of major commercial deals are in the pipeline, with a training kit sponsorship deal with financial services firm Sum Up set to be announced imminently.
That would make Newcastle one of only three clubs in the top flight whose training ground has been “fully commercialised”.
The latest on Newcastle’s stadium plans
The club are also exploring a possible stadium naming rights deal (although there would be no repeat of the Sports Direct Arena fiasco, with sensitivity around retaining St James’ Park as the name of the ground).
The stadium project remains the club’s north star and it is still locked in the final stages of a decision. PIF do not move quickly but those close to the process believe the legal and logistical challenges Newcastle have faced are almost unprecedented in the Premier League, which partly explains the delay.
But “things are moving” and a timeline of having spades in the ground within three years – just as the brand new training ground opens – feels realistic. While there has been no decision stakeholders have long preferred building a new stadium, which gives much more flexibility over capacity, corporate offerings and design.
Given the scope of the project it would take at least a year for the planning process to play out.
Short-term pain, long-term gain
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The sale of Bruno Guimaraes was a blow for Newcastle (Photo: Reuters)
The promises of long-term success will collide with cold, hard reality on Sunday as the Premier League kicks off. Newcastle, in truth, look a bit callow and insiders admit that not everything has gone to plan in their recruitment drive.
Top targets have been missed, the sale of Bruno Guimaraes was unwanted and Eddie Howe’s departure was not foreseen back in May. But the overall strategy – of pivoting to potential and signing players from European markets to correct the club’s financial position – is seen as necessary and was backed by the ownership group.
PIF regard it as a good sign that, unlike in 2025, they have not had to become involved in transfer business and have instead left that to sporting director Ross Wilson and Hopkinson, the club’s CEO. There was also enthusiastic backing for the appointment of Matthias Jaissle.
Expectations for this season are a closely guarded secret. But it is a club that wants to be in Europe and to improve across the board. There is pressure on the women’s side – managed by Tanya Oxtoby – to achieve promotion to the WSL and a big budget has been put aside to fund Academy recruitment.
The hope is that short-term pain – if that is what this transition season brings – gives way to long-term gain.