Patience key in Toon plan

NEWCASTLE UNITED have been talked of as the richest club in the world since the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund took charge.

So why did they need to take out what was a corporate payday loan with HSBC two weeks ago, essentially mortgaging their future TV and gate money, for cash flow?

And why are they haggling with Leicester over James Maddison (below), offering only around £20million up front, and refusing to go much over £40m in total?

Those are not the actions of a club immediately awash with oil cash.

Add in the sight of Newcastle chairman Yasir Al-rumayyan, offering Tiger Woods £650m to join the LIV Golf Series which he runs for the PIF and this week apparently splashing £100m to sign Open champion Cameron Smith and others, and you wonder where the priorities lie.

There are questions that need an answer. If the Saudis, who own 80 per cent of the club, put in hard cash, does that have to be matched proportionately by Amanda Staveley who owns 10 per cent, or will her shareholding get diluted. Can she afford it?

If there are Saudi sponsors lined up and ready to pump income into Newcastle, why not do it this summer instead of waiting until 2023?

Newcastle want to stay within the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules which allows a specified loss spread over three years.

The only way they can increase their spending power under these rules is to get the likes of Saudi oil giant Aramco, or more likely Neom, their futuristic smart city, to come in as sponsors on the shirt or stadium renaming.

Newcastle spent £94m in January, and have splashed out £55m this summer with scope for £40m more.

They are playing catch-up after years of under-investment – and even bigger spending will have to wait.