Manh Tung, Breaking Media.

Ciaran Morrison

Fri 1 May 2026 12:00, UK

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Newcastle United’s Saudi owners will have faced questions over their governance of the club at the latest annual meeting.

That is the view of former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking to Football Insider, who says he needs to see “actions not words” from the owners.

Whilst manager Eddie Howe’s future will have been up for debate due to the Magpies’ poor form, the annual meeting also provided a chance to discuss the summer transfer window, stadium plans and growing revenue.

Key figures, including chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan and minority owner Jamie Reuben, were both in attendance alongside the likes of chief executive David Hopkinson.

The PIF’s commitment to Newcastle has been questioned this season, whilst they have recently pulled investment in LIV Golf and are having to manage their investments due to the war in the Middle East.

Newcastle’s owners ‘have not delivered’ since taking over the club

Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes Newcastle’s owners may need to give more autonomy to the club for it to move forward.

Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness states that the club’s progression has been stalled by the ownership delaying decision-making, and not resolving “big issues.”

He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “This sort of inquest should have been happening two or three months ago, and there are a lot of decisions that could have been made and should have been made earlier.

“They’ve proven to be sort of arm’s length owners that haven’t been able to let the club move forward as quickly as they should have done, and they have not delivered the promise that PIF gave when they first joined the club. So there are questions about them as owners.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily about will they sell the club. It’s more about how, operationally, on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis, they actually interact with the club and allow them to go ahead and follow the plan. So those are the big questions.

“You can’t get much bigger than stadium, squad and finance. Some big issues around Newcastle and quite rightly some serious questions.

“I’m sure that we’ll hear some sort of signals, and it’ll all be unity, and we’re all united together, and we’re going to move forward. But we’ve got to see actions, not words. And I’d like to see more autonomy given to the club and a clearer way forward that way.”

Newcastle to generate funds for new striker signing

Heading into the summer transfer window, Newcastle will be looking to sign a new striker amid the struggles of Yoane Wissa and Nick Woltemade this season.

Former Manchester United chief scout Mick Brown told Football Insider that Newcastle are in a strong position to sign Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea.

The sales of Wissa and Woltemade would provide them with the funds to sign Jackson, whose agent is currently talking to a number of clubs about a summer move.

Jackson is seen to have no future at Chelsea and has spent the past season on loan at Bayern Munich, where he has scored 10 goals in all competitions.