UK: 18+ USA: 21+ | Begambleaware.org | T&Cs apply | Play Responsibly

Newcastle Director Amanda Staveley has explained that there is “no scenario” whereby the club’s owners will sell in order to buy a club like Manchester United.

Partnered with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, Staveley’s consortium bought Newcastle in October 2021 for around £300m.

The Magpies have turned their fortunes around dramatically since the takeover, moving from the Premier League relegation zone to the European places.

Newcastle won’t be sold to buy Man Utd

Contents

1 Newcastle won’t be sold to buy Man Utd
- 1.1 Magpies affordable with passionate fans
  - 1.1.1 Staveley reveals stance on Newcastle transfer policy

The PIF have recently been linked with a deal to buy Man Utd, but Staveley has now explained why such a scenario is not possible.

Staveley noted she and her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi, who is also a Co-Owner of Newcastle, are not the wealthy partners at the club, with that honour falling to Co-Owner Jamie Reuben.

“Mehrdad and I are not wealthy,” said Staveley, as reported by LiveScore. “Jamie obviously is an extraordinarily wealthy gentleman, we’re the poor partner, but that helps govern a lot of the decisions – so there’s no scenario where Saudi Arabia will decide to sell Newcastle to buy one of the mega clubs like Manchester United.”

Magpies affordable with passionate fans

Staveley also touched on exactly why Newcastle was the preferred option, explaining that there were a few key factors behind the decision to target the Magpies.

Newcastle not only survived in the English top flight after their purchase, but firmed up their position in the league with an 11th-place finish.

They have, however, taken that to new heights this season under manager Eddie Howe, with the club currently sitting in fifth place. It was even better for the Magpies not so long ago, but the club have lost their spot in the top four after three draws and a loss in their last four matches.

But the current situation has undoubtedly still left the club better off than they were a few years ago, with Staveley explaining how the owners have tried and indeed succeeded at turning the tables at St James’ Park.

“I think if we look specifically at Newcastle, we were very clear that prior to buying the club, we wanted a club with a very passionate fanbase,” she said. “But we also wanted a club that we could buy affordably, because we’re also partners with PIF and they are, effectively, a pension fund, managing money for future generations.

“So we wanted something that was very sustainable, and that we could build. We didn’t go for the wonderful Tottenham and Chelsea and Liverpool and obviously, everybody knows I was a massive Liverpool fan.

“We tried to buy Liverpool, and when we walked into the Newcastle game, we said ‘why spend x billion when you can actually spend 300 and some million and put in?’”

Newcastle

Staveley reveals stance on Newcastle transfer policy

Newcastle have spent big since the takeover, bringing in the likes of Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon and Sven Botman among others.

Staveley has now revealed that if she could repeat the purchase, she would have approached the recruitment policy – for players and indeed staff – slightly differently.

“If I did it all again, I think we should have probably brought in more people more quickly,” added Staveley. “Players or staff… the players we had to be just very careful and analytical on everything we did and we still do that.

“Because we have an FFP budget we keep to… that guided a lot of our transfer policy but we couldn’t afford to have a dud player.”