How long can City hold off Toon’s top-end challenge?
THE Saudi-led takeover of Newcastle United will soon mean Leicester City have even more competition to deal with at the top end of the Premier League.
Brendan Rodgers’ side have made a stuttering start to the new campaign, but come May, they will surely have mustered a challenge for European football at the very least.
To make the challenge of consolidating their place among the league’s upper echelons even harder, time is now against City following the promise of of huge investment into Newcastle.
As the richest club in the world, the Magpies will have their eyes on becoming one of football’s elite.
Leicester are among the clubs who have complained to the Premier League about the Newcastle takeover.
The deal was publicly confirmed onn Thursday, with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment fund leading a consortium which now owns 80 per cent of the club.
Things moved rapidly following reports that Saudi Arabia had lifted its fourand-a-half-year ban on sports broadcaster beIN Sports, as well as promising to close down sites pirating football games in the country.
Many English football stakeholders have expressed mixed feelings about the takeover, particularly given the record of human rights violations in the country of Saudi Arabia.
All other 19 Premier League clubs are said to be pushing for an emer
NEWLY ENRICHED BEYOND FANS’ WILDEST DREAMS, NEWCASTLE WILL SOON BE JOINING THE HUNT FOR
A PLACE IN EUROPE
Leicester are among the clubs who have complained to the Premier League about the Newcastle takeover
gency meeting, according to the Guardian. City and their counterparts want to know why the takeover which makes Newcastle the richest football club in the world - was finalised so quickly. The matter was not on the agenda at the Premier League’s latest shareholders’ meeting just a fortnight ago. Leicester are backed by billionaire owners, but Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha’s measured investment in the 2016 Premier League winners is dwarfed by Newcastle’s owners.
Newcastle are now 80 per cent owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund which is estimated to be worth around £320 billion.
But Newcastle have some gap to bridge until they get there. Currently occupying 19th place in the Premier League with three points after seven games, their immediate priority will be getting out of the relegation before even thinking about spending big on transfers.
When the window does open they have some way to get up to the level of those in and around the top half, never mind Liverpool, Manchester City or Chelsea.
Leicester’s squad is worth about £408 million, according to figures from the International Centre for Sports Studies Football Observatory.
That is £225 million more than Newcastle, who may take years to revamp their squad and add the quality required to be challengers for a place in Europe.
There is no immediate danger that Newcastle will be leapfrogging the Foxes anytime soon, but it’s almost certain that with the level of backing provided by their new owners, challenging at the right end of the Premier League table will only a matter of time.