Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/...

News

HomeNewsNewcastle UnitedChelseaEnglish Premier LeagueFootball FinanceManchester City

Official paperwork exposes £820m PIF deal as Newcastle United owners helping Man City and Chelsea out

Adam Williams

Wed 5 February 2025 14:00, UK

Because of their Gulf state-backed ownership regimes, there are many who assume Manchester City and Newcastle United must have a strategic partnership behind the scenes.

However, the alliance between the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Abu Dhabi United Group (AD♕UG) is an extremely uneasy one – if indeed there is one at all.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, whose sovereign wealth finances Man City and Newcastle United respectively, are the tw🌱o richest and most populous states in th🌜e region.

But while they are allies on foreign policy, the two Gulf nations are increasingly b🌊itter rivals forces 🎉in football and, more broadly, their efforts to project soft power through sport, entertainment and tourism.

Their investments in Premier League football via two historic Northern clubs are effectively designed to be market penetration tools as opposed to traditional investments, says one football finance expert.

“I think many [state-owned] clubs are viewed by owners as loss leaders that open doors for them,” Kieran Maguire told TBR Football in December.

“They have the ability to entertain, to leverage upon the passion of the fans and so, which is worth a financial loss based on their calculations.“

The perpetual battle for eyeballs in European football’s saturated marketplace means Newcastle and City’s owners are in direct competition with one another.

If not for Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), it’s likely that the Premier League title would head to either St 🌃James’ Park or the Etihad Stadium most seasons given the extraordinary private wealth of t𒉰heir benefactors.

Instead, Eddie Howe’s side𒐪 have had to tap dance around PSR while battling to fast-forward their commercial and matchda꧃y income strategies to g🎐ive them a sustainable seat at the table among the elite.

For now, as the club with the biggest reꦜvenues in the league and therefore the best platform in terms of PSR, it♉ is in City’s interests to pull up the ladder behind them and vote for tighter spending rules.

That has frustrated the uber-ambitioꦑus Newcastle, whose spending has increased dramatically in line with their revenue under PIF but to nowhere near the level that the Saudis ultimately want.

That said, English football’s two state-backed clubs do close ranks 𒅌when it serves them both.

Newcastle supported City in theirꦑ challenge the Premier League’s rules on Associatജed Party Transactions (APTs), for example.

They are also a united front on the topic of state ownership – obviously. That’s a real issue, with executives such as Arsenal vice-chair Tim Lewis wanting City and Newcastle’s ownership model outlawed.

Ultimately, Saudi Arabia’s ambitions in football appear the grander of the two, as evidenced by their portfolio of hundreds of sponsorship deals, sports events and – of course – the 2034 World Cup.

Now, Newcas♒tle’s owners’ latest move in the football business ecosystem shows how they are prepared to indirectly put money in City’s pockets, as well as Chelsea’s, for the benefit of their broader masterplan.

• READ MORE: Eddie Howe shares the ‘really potent’ wಞeapon Newcastle plan to use v Arsenal in League 🍌Cup semi-final second leg

PIF bankrolling DAZN’s £1bn-plus losses; Man City and Chelsea to cash in

In October last year, several reputable outlets reported that PIF were preparing to invest around £820m in DAZN, the London-based med🤪ia firm owned by Ukrainian-American billionaire Len Blavatnik.

As a Premier League m⛎edia rightsholder in Portugal and Spain, the news caused some quiet concerns within English football about a potential conflict of interest.

Newcastle’s owner🍒s later released a short statement saying they were not currently in talks and had no plans to buy a stake in D💟AZN.

But now, n🌸ew reports from reliable sources claim that PIF are in fact at an advanced stage in the discussions, with a deal fully expected to be finalised in the near future.

It was also suggested that PIF’s investment will be used to help fund DAZN’s deal to air the revamped Club World Cup this summer, with the company paying FIFA around the same amount for the competition’s medi💜a rig🍷hts.

With FIFA having struggled to source a TV deal that would satisfy the big European clubs participating in the expanded 32-team tournament, DAZN have effectively bailed out world football’s governing bౠody.

As the deal will also be used to💦 fill the prize money pot for the month-long event in the US, it also means Man City and Chelsea will benefit directly from a deal that Newcastle’s owners are ostensibly financing.

And the latest﷽ news shows why DAZN may have needed the Saudis’ help.

The 2025 Club World Cup draw in full

D✅AZN filed their latest annual financial accounts late last week via , detailing a loss of almost £1.2bn, taking tot🤪al losses in the last five financial years to approximately £5bn.

The company is still aggressively expanding and buying more rig💯hts and 👍its CEO, Shay Segev, says they could one day bid for the Premier League’s domestic TV rights, which were worth £6.7bn at the last count.

Donald Trump’s message to FIFA and Gianni Infantino

When City and Chelsea’s representatives attended the Club W🍒orld Cup draw in December, newly re-elected president Donald Trump made a guest appearance via a pre-recorded video message.

The Repu🗹blican is increasingly using sport to project power and influence, whꦜether that be in ‘soccer’, the UFC or golf.

Incidentally, Trump has held talks with Newcastle chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan about a potential merger between PIF-owned LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, which is also part-owned byꦆ Liverpool owners FSG.

• READ MORE: Roy Keane predicts the twoܫ teams who will be in the Carabao Cup fi♐nal out of Tottenham, Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle

Could new government-backed football regulator oust Newcastle and Man City owners?

Several clubs are anxious about the increasing influence of state-owned clubs like Newcastle, C꧒ity and Paris Saint-Germain in football.

Chelsea owners Clearlake Capital also have links to the Public Investment Fund, 🐎although not to the extent that the Premier League consider it a conflict of interest.

As such, some have privately suggested that the soon-to-be-introduced independent football regulator – 💟which will have dominღion over the owners’ and directors’ test in the English game – should address the issue.

However, prime minister Kier Starmer has signalled that fo🌸reign policy and state ownership will not be considered as part of any updated owners’ and directors’ test.

Former PM Boris Johnson was in direct contact with Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Moไhamed Bin Salman in 2021, when PIF lobbied the government to lean on the Premier League to allow the Newcastle takeover.

Further illustrating the role of geopolitics in modern football, the main ꧟barrier to that deal was the resistance of Qat🥃ari government-backed Premier League broadcaster BeIN Sports.

BeIN alleged that their coverage was being pirated in Saudi Arabia while Bin Salman’s gov⛎ernment turned a blind eye.

Te♚nsions between the two parties have since cooled, with PIF in fact at one sta𒅌ge reportedly in talks to invest in BeIN.