Newcastle's owners reportedly rejected the chance to pay £700million for a 30 per cent stake in a Premier League football club - believed to be Manchester United.
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) had been weighing up potential opportunities to get involved in English football for some time prior to their £305m takeover of Newcastle, which was initially agreed in April 2020 and eventually completed in October last year.
It took Premier League chiefs around 18 months to ratify the deal following a rigorous investigation into how PIF was funded due to links with Saudi's controversial Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. However, Newcastle's takeover may not have even happened had things turned out differently, as Salman is said to have been keen on investing in buying Man Utd.
