Newcastle Untied chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan has not ruled out investing in 'small clubs' around the globe after completing a takeover at St. James' Park almost a year ago. The Magpies owners have long been linked with clubs around the world, including Serie A giants Inter Milan, as they look to replicate Manchester City's successful multi-club business model.
The City Group are on the brink of buying second tier Brazilian club Bahia the 12th club in their portfolio, in a reported £175million deal. As things currently stand, Newcastle are the only club that PIF own and the Magpies chairman has discussed the problems with taking over bigger clubs across the glob.
Alwaleed Aldebasi, a Newcastle United fan based in Saudi Arabia, translated Al-Rumayyan's recent interview, summarising in what the Magpies chief said in a Twitter thread. One tweet which stand out in particular is: "We have potential in sport investments to move forward. Hard to buy big clubs now unless we buy small clubs and also we want to see what we could do in kingdom of Saudi Arabia too."
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The comments from Al-Rumayyan seemingly pours cold water on any connection with a takeover at Inter Milan, but does not rule out following Manchester City into business in Brazil. The Magpies already have a number of Brazilians in their ranks, and investment in the country could provide Newcastle with the upper hand when it comes to unearthing gems from South America, given an increased scouting network.
“In terms of a soft power battle, I think this is where we are headed with multi-club ownership generally,” Dr Dan Plumley told Football Insider. “There are only so many countries around the world that you can target as viable investment opportunities, so it makes sense that different clubs are fishing in the same pond.
“We might see Chelsea and Newcastle in there in the future as well. In relative terms, football is quite a small world in that regard. Clubs are going to target the same regions.
“City are at the forefront of this and have a first-mover advantage because of the profile of their multi-club model.”
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