‘I’m hearing’ PIF want to sell Newcastle and buy Liverpool amid ‘$1bn injection’ – Ex-PL chairman
Newcastle United owners PIF could look to sell the Magpies in order to buy Premier League rivals Liverpool, according to what a former Premier League chairman is “hearing”.
The Magpies, who are 80 per cent owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, have enjoyed a significant resurgence since Amanda Staveley – who has since left St James’ Park – and her partners completed their £305million takeover in November 2021.
However, having admitted they had over-achieved in finishing fourth last season, head coach Eddie Howe admitted in May that he is acutely aware of the need for patience as they attempt to take the next steps within the Premier League’s strict financial rules, which are currently the topic of intense debate.
PIF’s purchase of a controlling stake in Newcastle proved to be the prelude to significant further investment in sport – domestic football and golf in particular – by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, prompting suggestions that the Premier League club could become an increasingly small priority.
And Football Insider report that Liverpool owner John Henry ‘joined forces with PIF to broker the merger of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf’ with talks being ‘held in New York earlier this month over a $1 billion injection into the PGA Tour from Saudi Arabia’.
And now former Everton chairman Keith Wyness insists he is “hearing” that there is a possibility that PIF could attempt to sell Newcastle and buy Liverpool as they see more of a chance of progress at the Anfield club.
Wyness told Football Insider: “PIF would have to sell Newcastle if they were to come in at Liverpool.
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“But we’re a long way from seeing how that would play out.
“At the moment, there’s lots of rumours that I’m hearing, because they’ve got lots of money.
“When you have money, all these rumours fly – you’re either taking over golf, as they’re doing with LIV, or taking over all sorts of sports.”
When asked about potentially having to walk away from the Marc Guehi deal in the summer, Howe explained the difficulties Newcastle were having paying reasonable prices for players, he said in August: “We have done many times in my time here.
“Especially early on where there was very much a ‘Newcastle tax’ on any deal where when we would ring up, the price would double, so many times we were, ‘No, that’s not for us, we’re not going to go down that road where we feel we’re overpaying for players’.
“That’s changed slightly because people have seen the dynamic, that we’re not going to pay silly fees for players, so I think now it’s returned more to normality.”