Newcastle: PIF could be about to invest £100m as new training ground update emerges
Newcastle United’s owners could be set to invest up to £100million to help fund the club’s new training ground.
That is according to former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider the project is much easier to deliver than the stadium plans.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) has been considering plans for a new training ground since securing a majority stake in Newcastle in October 2021.
The i Paper reported on 23 April a further tranche of investment from PIF will soon land on Companies House, with the money earmarked to purchase the site where the state-of-the-art training facility will be built.
Newcastle’s owners have invested in the club since taking over at St James’ Park, but questions have been asked about the speed in which decisions have been made.
Why PIF want to finance 'very significant' Newcastle development
Newcastle agreed a training ground and sleeve sponsorship deal with KNOX Hydration earlier this month.
However, there was some surprise PIF decided against using its Saudi connections to agree a new partnership, potentially bringing in more revenue for Eddie Howe’s side.
| Financial Metric | Value |
| Total Revenue | £335m |
| Commercial revenue | £123m |
| Pre-tax profit | £35m |
| Wages | £243m |
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson discussed what Newcastle’s owners investing in a new training ground means for their ambitions moving forward.
“I don't think it's that significant,” said Borson.
“We’re probably talking about £50-100m, but you're buying yourself a very significant facility that's going to last for 25 years. It's pretty fundamental to the value of their assets.
“If you want to look at it that way in terms of for their kind of investment thesis, if they're looking at it as ‘we're PIF as a sovereign fund, we're going to invest in some of our assets’, this is a capital project that's going to last 25 years.”
Why PIF should have built Newcastle training ground sooner
Borson revealed he’s surprised PIF didn’t invest in a new training ground immediately after securing its takeover.
“It's obviously got value that makes it easier to sell the club in the future, so it all points in the direction of being a very uncontroversial, straightforward investment decision,” said Borson.
“They have the capital to do it, so I don't think there's going to be any issue there. They obviously want the Reubens to stand their corner as well in terms of money that's required.
“It's much easier and a more deliverable project than the new stadium. This is a new training facility that gets you to be one of the best in the country.
“It's low-hanging fruit for a club like Newcastle, so I don't think it's a big surprise that they're all over that. In fact, probably the only surprise is they didn't do it almost on day one.”