What has Changed Since the Newcastle Acquisition?
Eddie Howe's words faded.
"I remember strolling through the training ground when we arrived that first time," remarked the team's manager last week. "It was…"
Howe was not becoming sentimental, but considering the work needed to improve the club's tired Benton base following his hiring almost four years back.
Newcastle had not long been acquired by a investment group from Saudi Arabia in a multi-million pound transaction.
The club had been dubbed the richest in the world by observers, but the situation on the ground was quite distinct as they battled relegation.
In a planning application to upgrade the facility a few months later, it was noted the training facility fell "significantly below the Premier League and perhaps even Championship standards".
The base has since been updated with recovery and plunge pools, a updated dining area, a players' lounge and bigger dressing rooms, among other amenities, but it is the squad that has been completely revolutionized since then.
So what has evolved since the takeover and why didn't the financial power of Newcastle's owners guarantee more achievements and honours?
Further Improvements Required but Things Will Change
Matt Ritchie sensed it.
He understood what could happen if Howe "got hold of them" and "possessed attacking talent", after previously working with the manager at Bournemouth.
"When I first arrived, I would discuss Eddie Howe and Bournemouth," said the 36-year-old winger, who played for Newcastle between 2016 and 2024.
"The lads would say, 'enough, drop it, he can't have been that good'. But I'd tell them there was no stone left unturned."
"I felt delighted that they experienced it. Until you actually see it and feel it, you can't fully appreciate you have never worked like that before. It's the attention to detail, the preparation and the drive for betterment - all the elements that make Newcastle what they are now."
It has not been entirely smooth, of course, since Howe's arrival or the takeover a short time before.
Newcastle, presently mid-table in the top division, failed to secure a several objectives during a draining summer window and lost striker Alexander Isak to Liverpool for a British record £125m.
The club do not have a sporting director after Paul Mitchell left in June, following under twelve months in the post.
And the wait continues for announcements concerning the future of St James' Park and construction of a new state-of-the-art training ground.
But this is a team that broke a 70-year drought to claim a significant cup back in March after lifting the Carabao Cup by beating Liverpool.
They have qualified for the Champions League in multiple recent campaigns - achieving their largest victory in the competition against Union Saint-Gilloise this week - and only Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal have accumulated more points in the Premier League since Howe assumed control.
"A lot has changed just in terms of the general feeling of the club," added Howe. "Of course, the squad has evolved. Inevitably, teams develop and transform over time."
"The way we're working behind the scenes as a football club is completely transformed but, additionally, if you look around the training ground here, there have been major enhancements. That's what the club required and still needs."
"We need more, but progress will occur and gradually evolve over time. It's a promising period for the football club."
Attempting to Close Huge Revenue Gap
Newcastle have also grown off the field.
Revenue is set to increase from £140m in 2021 to upward of £400m when the club's latest accounts are released in the coming months, while employee count have increased significantly to 550 in recent years.
There has been significant funding in the academy and the female squad, while hundreds of millions have been pumped into the club to help with operational expenses.
But one question observers may pose is why the financial resources of their Saudi owners hasn't yielded more achievements.
Though new signings have arrived - around £100m net was spent in the summer - this has been a relatively gradual build.
"Since the new ownership were extremely rich, theoretically, a lot of people made an assumption that they were going to purchase success," stated a Newcastle fan analyst.
"Certainly, Newcastle have brought in some top-class players like Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali, but the development of existing squad players and the acquisition of players like Dan Burn from the region to strengthen that feeling around the club has been massive and really important."
Such an strategy has been influenced by Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), which limit deficits to £105m over a three-year cycle, so finding a way to create additional flexibility will be crucial for Newcastle.
For context, Manchester United may have endured their poorest season in more than four decades last season, but the club still produced record revenues of £666.5m.
Examining further, Manchester United earned £333.3m worth of sponsorship revenue and £160.3m in gate receipts.
Newcastle, by contrast, generated £83.6m and £50.1m correspondingly in their latest financial statements from 2023-24.
Acquisition 'Increased' Competitors' Worries
Manchester United have not necessarily made the most of their substantial revenue sources, of course.
But, historically, the sides who invest higher amounts on wages accumulate the most points per game in the Premier League.
Earlier challengers like Manchester City and Chelsea were able to blow their rivals out of the water with better financial offers before the current rules were introduced in 2013.
But Newcastle 'only' had the eighth highest salary bill in the Premier League just a few years back and the club came extremely near to a PSR breach in June 2024 following years of imbalanced trading.
"I'm uncertain these are unintended consequences of the rules," said a football finance expert. "The more Machiavellian view of the Premier League is that the clubs at the top didn't want another City or Chelsea to emerge. This is a way of creating a limitation."
Newcastle are going to have to operate a somewhat uniquely - and that has been clear since the takeover.
In fact, an unnamed executive previously contacted the Premier League on behalf of his club and multiple teams amid apprehension Newcastle could enter into lucrative sponsorship deals with Saudi Arabian companies.
He asked that notification was provided of a vote to implement a short-term ban on related-party transactions just shortly following the buy-out in 2021.
This senior figure publicly acknowledged the Newcastle takeover "heightened" worries and "prompted teams to demand measures" when he was later questioned by Manchester City's legal team.
Nobody Should Justify Saudi Human Rights Record
The associated party transaction rules have been updated and continue to apply.
But Newcastle's new CEO, David Hopkinson, has aimed to find ways to realize the club's "under-realised commercial potential".
That has been expected to associate Tom Pistore, who worked with the Canadian at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.
"The team under his leadership were always attempting to concentrate on how do we continue to evolve?" he said. "Status quo keeps you stationary so it was about continuing to be creative in business and partnership relationships, innovation, digital and ticketing."
"With industry evolution, David was always very forward facing with a inquisitive nature in new concepts. Innovative, but not bleeding edge were terms we often talked about in observing early adopters at something and then having a thorough assessment."
Hopkinson, who previously served as president and chief operating officer at Madison Square Garden Sports and head of global partnerships at Real Madrid, wants to position Newcastle "with global top clubs".
That remains the future goal of chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) - who own a majority stake in the club - as well as co-investor Jamie Reuben.
But a human rights campaigner said "goals and glory are distracting from executions and repression" after a historic number were executed in Saudi Arabia last year.
"This extended beyond football," he continued. "It's about leveraging the worldwide reputation of the Premier League to sanitise a problematic rights situation."
A political representative was the initial to acknowledge she "wouldn't choose Saudi Arabia as the owners of the club".
However, she emphasized supporters were the "final individuals who get to choose".
"With financial prioritization, which the Premier League have, those with the most money will end up winning the prestigious teams like Newcastle United," she said.
"However, nobody ought to justify, stand up for, or excuse Saudi Arabia's human rights record."
