The country under Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman has over the years been working on improving its image by launching multiple projects in multiple fronts including entertainment, tourism, media and sports.
Earlier this month it was announced that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has taken over the four big clubs in the Saudi Pro League, namely, Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr, and Al-Ahli as part of the Kingdom’s Sports Clubs Investment and Privatization Project.
The goal is to make Saudi Pro League one of the best in the world by bringing in some of the biggest names in football to the country.
The Saudi Pro League have already made significant waves in the football world by securing the signing of renowned player Cristiano Ronaldo by Al-Nassr in December.
In the current summer transfer window, the league has continued its impressive spree by securing high-profile acquisitions, including Karim Benzema, N’golo Kante, Ruben Neves, and Kalidou Koulibaly.
They are also strongly linked with likes of Hakim Ziyech, Edouard Mendy, Sergio Ramos, Roberto Firmino, Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva, and Saul.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund’s approach involves enticing players with exorbitant wages, making it incredibly difficult for them to turn down the lucrative offers. This aggressive summer transfer activity raises an important question: What about Newcastle?
The PIF took over the Premier League club last year and they have made positive strides since then. In the first full season under Eddie Howe and new owners, they finished 4th in the league, above the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, and Tottenham.
And they are expected to make headlines in the summer transfer window to build on the success from last season.
But Ben Jacobs believes the owners will not be as ferocious in the transfer market at they are in the Saudi Pro League.
Speaking exclusively on The Debrief Podcast, Ben Jacobs spoke about how the new Saudi PIF project will impact Newcastle.
He claimed that Newcastle remains a key project for the Saudi PIF and Yasir al Rumayyan. But they have taken a step back from Newcastle and will not be overspending in the transfer window.
“The overlap between the Newcastle project and the Saudi Pro League project puts PIF in a difficult position because what Saudi Arabia are doing is purposefully overpaying because they wider value in signing these player.
Then Newcastle go into the market and everyone knows PIF have got the money and how do Newcastle protect themselves to make sure that they are not held to the same standards of fees and wages.
And Newcastle have done very well so far to be disciplined in their transfer business and that is largely because the PIF have taken a step back and let Dan Ashworth and Eddie Howe run the show and almost painted the picture in the industry that when you deal with Newcastle you are not dealing with PIF but when you are dealing with the Saudi Pro League, it is led by the PIF.
Newcastle are not going to be overspending. Newcastle are not going to tie themselves at this point to the Saudi Pro League other than going there and playing friendlies as they have done before.”
He also dismissed suggestions that Ruben Neves will be loaned to Newcastle after he completed a move to Al-Hilal. Regarding rumours about Ruben Neves and Cristiano Ronaldo joining Newcastle on loan from the Saudi League, Jacobs said:
“There are rumours that Neves is going to join Newcastle on loan this summer. It’s nonsense. Why would Saudi Arabia pay that much money and wages to sign a player to promote the Saudi League, only to loan him immediately back to Newcastle United who have just bought a number 8 and a defensive midfielder in Tonali. Nothing makes sense about that.”
“We also heard that Cristiano Ronaldo would be moving from Al-Nassr to Newcastle due to a so called Newcastle Champions League clause. Again, there is no truth to that. There is a Champions League exit clause for Ronaldo but Newcastle or any other club would have to want to sign the player. And at his age, that is highly unlikely.”
On Newcastle’s transfer strategy vs Saudi Pro League’s, he said:
“PIF are looking for Newcastle to consolidate themselves in the top 4 and ultimately challenge for the Champions Leagues and compete with Manchester City and the other big 6 to make it a big 7 and try and win the Premier League and that’s a very much Premier League focused strategy.”
“I expect Newcastle to be looking at players like James Maddison, a new left-back with Dan Burn not necessarily being a long-term starting left-back and these transfers are not going to be done with the same ferocity and the same financial clout as Saudi Pro League transfers. Newcastle are about consolidation and caution while Saudi project is more about making the splash.”
Ultimately, both the Saudi Pro League and Newcastle United represent integral components of the Saudi PIF’s sporting projects. The divergent transfer strategies highlight the unique challenges faced by the PIF. It is interesting to see how long the Saudi Pro League project lasts and if so, how it will impact Newcastle in the long run.