Keith Wyness shares ‘good Newcastle news’ after ‘speaking to my PiF contact’
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness has insisted Newcastle United will be unaffected despite the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) announcing overseas spending cuts.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – revealed he has spoken to a contact within PIF and they are still likely to fund a redevelopment at St James’ Park worth around £1billion.
As per the Financial Times (29 October), PIF plans to scale back the share of its international investment to refocus on the domestic economy in Saudi Arabia.
The PIF Governor and Newcastle chairman Yasir al-Rumayyan claimed he wants to reduce overseas investment from 30% down to 18-20%, with the fund controlling $930bn worth of assets.
Newcastle was purchased by a Saudi-backed consortium in 2021 and have recently ramped up plans to redevelop the club’s St James’ Park stadium.
Newcastle will be unaffected by PIF cuts, says Wyness
Wyness told Football Insider‘s Insider Track podcast: “They’re scaling back international investment.
“I spoke to my PIF contact this week about this. 30% of their investment is currently overseas, they want to bring that down to around 20%.
“But the assets they have already invested in, such as Newcastle, are not really going to be part of those cuts.
“It won’t really affect Newcastle at all.
“The big project everyone’s looking at right now is the stadium. That could be a £1billion project.
“If PIF bankroll that, alongside some financing from the Rueben brothers, then that would be a massive help for the north-east of England.
“I don’t see anything other than good news for Newcastle. Their biggest problem right now is PSR and trying to get results right on the pitch to get back into the Champions League.”
In other news, Newcastle fans wowed by new Anthony Gordon footage that’s emerged online.
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