A busy summer of transfer business is expected at Newcastle United but the club's majority ownership, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), are also splashing the cash elsewhere.
The country's wealth fund recently purchased four of Saudi Arabia's top clubs, Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli, Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr, to 'elevate the Saudi Pro League to the ranks of the top 10 leagues in the world'. Since the quartet of acquisitions earlier this month there has been an influx of top European talent heavily linked with moves to the Middle East.
Cristiano Ronaldo took the plunge and left Europe for Saudi side Al-Nassr last year, while Karim Benzema recently penned an eye-watering deal with champions Al-Ittihad. Soon, the duo will be joined by a swathe of household names, all of whom are setting themselves and their families up for life with the obscene amount of money on offer.
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It's safe to say Saudi Arabia, backed by PIF, are set to change the face of football entirely. Just as China tried and failed in years gone by when players such as Oscar, Hulk, Paulinho, Yannick Carrasco, Salomon Rondon, Marko Arnautovic and Marouane Fellaini all opted to join the Chinese Super League in its pomp before sweeping financial regulations and overseas signing rules were introduced.
China became somewhat of a dumping ground for reasonably big names around a decade ago but the new Saudi experiment feels different. Financial Fair Play doesn't currently exist in country's top flight, leading to imminent, outrageous bids for some of Europe's hottest talent.
Chelsea look set to offload a wealth of players in their pursuit to balance the books after a lavish spending spree by Todd Boehly. The likes of Romelu Lukaku, Edouard Mendy, N'Golo Kante, Thiago Silva, Hakim Ziyech, Kalidou Koulibaly and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are all attracting interest.
Elsewhere, Manchester City's Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan, Kyle Walker and Riyad Mahrez have all been linked to Saudi outfits, while Roberto Firmino, Wilfried Zaha, David de Gea and Ruben Neves are other big Premier League stars tipped to leave Europe.
While there may not have been a vast swathe of new English viewers when Ronaldo became the face of Saudi football, more than a dozen top Premier League stars joining the Portuguese superstar may just turn the tide. Could it ever get to the stage where English competitions are being hosted in the Middle East? It isn't the craziest leap to make.
The sovereign wealth fund seeks to diversify its ever-expanding portfolio in a push to land a future FIFA World Cup. So many high-profile players, some in the prime of their careers, joining the country's top flight would be a staggering and significant move for world football. It would make a Saudi World Cup more of a realistic possibility than it already is.
Closer to home, it will likely have little impact on Newcastle and the day-to-day running of the club for the time being. But soon PIF could go from owning one of the most successful clubs in Britain to controlling one of the most talent-laden football leagues in world football - and that will have a knock-on effect.
