AMANDA STAVELEY’S

very public role as the face of the new Newcastle regime could be short-lived. The deal broker appears to have been passed over for the role of chief executive at St James’ Park, which she was expected to be given. Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners firm have a 10 per cent stake in the club. Perhaps significantly, the Premier League preferred to hold discussions with the Public Investment Fund themselves rather than Staveley (right) as the takeover process was concluded over the past few weeks. Equally intriguing is the apparent absence of Saudi’s commerce and media minister, Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, from the Newcastle board despite having played a key role in negotiations. Al Qasabi’s disappearance may be down to the fact that in a letter sent to then International Trade Secretary Liz Truss last June, he claimed the Saudi government had not been held responsible for the piracy of Premier League rights by the World Trade Organisation, which was subsequently found to be untrue.