Newcastle owners to 'reassess' their investment after failures elsewhere - insider

Newcastle United owners, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) are set to make a decision over their investment in football.

That is the opinion of experienced former Aston Villa, Everton and Tottenham scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.

It has been a difficult year for the Magpies, who have seen several of their key stars leave the club.

Club captain Bruno Guimaraes is set to be the next to leave in the coming hours, with his proposed move to Arsenal perhaps the fuel behind Eddie Howe's decision to step down.

Newcastle have appointed Matthias Jaissle to take over from the 48-year-old, but there remains much uncertainty surrounding St James' Park.

With several projects having seen withdrawal of PIF's backing, some fans have wondered whether the Magpies are next.

Newcastle warned: 'You saw what happened with LIV Golf'

In 2021, PIF backed a breakaway golf league, launched to challenge the PGA by paying huge figures to lure some of the game's best players away.

Less than five years later, funding has been removed, with LIV Golf announcing this week that a new lead investor has been found.

And there is fear that a similar course of action may well be taken in their other projects.

"The Saudi Pro League, they're now in a stage where they are desperate to bring in name players. For the next two seasons, the money's going to be spent," King told Football Insider. 

"You saw what happened with the golf. That went wrong when they were putting silly money out to attract the top golfers into LIV Golf. If the Saudi Pro League don't start picking up, they're going to have to reassess the amount of money they're spending on that as well.

"But at the moment, they're trying everything they can to entice players into that football league. Because for me, it's the only way you'd get a top player to go there."

Eddie Howe's comments do not provide encouragement

Back in May, Howe said: "The desire is unchanged. It's to try and get to the top of the Premier League, to try and consistently win as many trophies as possible.

"I don't think that will change while the PIF are our owners, part owners or majority owners. They are very ambitious for the football club."

But Howe has now stepped down and left the club, indicating disagreement behind the scenes.

With Jaissle now in charge, PIF may well be set to have much more of a hands-on approach going forward. More failure, and their patience may run thin.