Eddie Howe Calls PIF U-Turn ‘Unfair’ After £750m Newcastle United Investment

It has been three years since Newcastle United’s £300 million takeover by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF). The deal promised substantial changes for the club, and it has delivered, with over £450 million invested into the first team and improvements made to the training ground at Darsley Park. These investments have transformed Newcastle into a more competitive side in the Premier League, avoiding relegation and achieving fourth and seventh-place finishes.

The club also made a return to Champions League football, albeit briefly, and reached their first major cup final since 1999, losing to Manchester United in last year’s Carabao Cup. Newcastle is now a vastly different club compared to its state three years ago, and most of the changes have been positive.

However, despite these improvements, the club still has a significant gap to close if it is to fully realize the ambition laid out at the time of the takeover: to compete at the top and win trophies within five years. Several obstacles have emerged, including changes in Premier League rules that have seemingly curtailed the impact of Newcastle’s new ownership model.

One such challenge is the introduction of Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules, which have restricted Newcastle’s ability to capitalize on commercial opportunities, thereby affecting their revenue generation and compliance with Premier League Profitability and Sustainability rules.

When asked about Newcastle’s progress in relation to the ‘five-year plan,’ head coach Eddie Howe, who was appointed just a month after the takeover in November 2021, said it is unfair to judge the club’s owners by the statements made back then.

“Five years does seem short,” Howe remarked. “At the time, I don’t think those statements were rash. There was a belief that the club could invest what it wanted. Of course, there’s never a guarantee of winning even with that investment, but it certainly gives you a better chance.

“Since then, there’s been a tightening of the rules. It’s unfair to judge the owners by those initial comments given how much the rules have changed. I wouldn’t say it’s impossible now, but it’s become very, very difficult to achieve what they originally thought they could.”

As Newcastle enters its third full season since the takeover, the expectations are high. After narrowly missing out on European football last season, the club will be aiming for a return to European competition and will also be hoping to break their 60-year domestic trophy drought, having reached the Carabao Cup final and the FA Cup quarter-finals in recent campaigns.