PIF bought Newcastle United in October 2021, and now a claim has been made that they could already sell the Magpies.
Fear not though, another Toon takeover is not on the horizon. But Simon Chadwick has suggested that a sale could happen to facilitate a bid to buy Manchester United from the Glazers.
The two Premier League giants are currently up for sale, leading to speculation on who their new owners could be.
It was recently claimed that FSG at Liverpool have become very worried by Newcastle and their new financial muscle. The Magpies are 80% owned by PIF – also known as the Public Investment Fund which is the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
They completed a controversial takeover of Newcastle on October 7th, in a deal that continues to be scrutinised. They own the club alongside Amanda Staveley and Jamie Reuben, who split the remaining 20%.
But it is PIF’s financial power that is threatening to turn Newcastle United into a super club in the future, and they have the kind of money required to buy Manchester United.
And Chadwick has claimed that it is not ‘entire inconceivable’ that they could discard of Eddie Howe’s side and buy the Red Devils.
What Chadwick has said on PIF selling Newcastle
The conversation started when Saudi Arabia’s sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal gave the green light for private Saudi investors to make a move for Liverpool or Manchester United.
It would certainly be interesting if that became a reality, especially given PIF’s position at Newcastle.
Now they own the majority of Newcastle, with the consortium buying the club from Mike Ashley for £305million last year.
But could PIF make a fresh move for Man United? Chadwick isn’t fully ruling it out.
“The opportunistic purchase of Newcastle, I think, was a consequence of being kicked back by Manchester United in the first place,” he told the Athletic.
“There probably will be a certain amount of disbelief amongst Saudi officials having bought Newcastle when they really wanted to buy Manchester United. They are now in a position where they could potentially buy Manchester United.
“I might be going out on a bit of a limb here, but it is not entirely inconceivable that they could dispose of Newcastle and buy Manchester United.”
Never going to happen
Financially, it could happen. PIF have the money required to buy a club like Manchester United. While the Magpies only cost £305million, the Red Devils will be worth a lot more.
It has been claimed by City AM that their asking price is between £6billion and £8billion. However, they may have to lower it to between £3billion and £5billion.
Regardless, it’s an insane amount of money compared to the Newcastle takeover. And that in itself is enough reason to prove a deal isn’t going to happen.
After just a year in charge, PIF have had a huge impact at St James’ Park. The club are already challenging for Europe, despite being relegation contenders when the takeover happened.
With £305million spent buying the club, it means more money is available for investment. In contrast, they would have to fork out an incredible amount just to get the keys to Manchester United. They would already have sent a huge amount of money before even starting to improve things.
And to complicate matters further, they would have to sell Newcastle first. Would that be easier now given the potential the club has shown over the past year? Or would it turn into another Mike Ashley takeover saga?
There is logic behind what Chadwick is saying, but Toon fans should not worry. Another Toon takeover saga is almost certainly not on horizon.
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