Used ChatGPT to translate.
Five-Point Summary
- Ownership concern – Times commentator Martin Samuel claims Newcastle fans may doubt if their Saudi owners (PIF) truly prioritize the club, as PIF actions seem to help rival teams.
- Aid to competitors – PIF invested heavily in FIFA’s Club World Cup, indirectly giving large sums to Manchester City, Chelsea, and other clubs.
-Transfer disruption – Chelsea and Liverpool benefited from PIF-backed deals, acquiring players Newcastle targeted (e.g., Liam Delap, João Pedro, Hugo Ekitike), while Liverpool bid NOK 1.36 billion for Alexander Isak.
- Impact on season preparations – Liverpool’s moves derailed Newcastle’s transfer strategy, unsettled Isak, and disrupted their pre-season before the opener against Aston Villa.
- Perception shift – Samuel says Newcastle risk looking like “the world’s richest patsy,” with PIF making things easy for everyone else but unusually hard for Newcastle.
Full English Translation
Headline:
“Liverpool Have Ruined Newcastle This Summer” – The Times Commentator Martin Samuel Says It’s a Big Problem That Newcastle’s Saudi Owners Are Helping Other Clubs
Saudi Arabia’s state-owned Public Investment Fund (PIF) took over about 85% of Newcastle in autumn 2021.
The spending of NOK 5.14 billion on signings has brought stars like Bruno Guimarães, Kieran Trippier, Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali, and Anthony Elanga. It has also delivered Champions League football and a Carabao Cup win last season.
But after this summer, Martin Samuel, a commentator in The Times, believes fans will grow increasingly worried about whether the Saudi owners really care about Newcastle at all.
“It must feel very frustrating for Eddie Howe to deal with raids and speed bumps to Newcastle’s ambitions—enabled by the very people who are supposed to have the club’s best interests at heart,” Samuel writes.
The commentator highlights several examples where Saudi Arabia appears to assist other clubs:
PIF invested heavily in FIFA’s Club World Cup, providing large sums to Manchester City, Chelsea, and foreign clubs.
Chelsea sold João Félix to PIF-backed Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, while also buying Liam Delap and João Pedro—both potential Newcastle signings.
PIF-backed Al-Hilal spent around NOK 650 million on Liverpool’s Darwin Núñez. Meanwhile, Liverpool are reportedly chasing Newcastle star Alexander Isak. According to Sky Sports, Newcastle last week rejected a bid of about NOK 1.36 billion. Liverpool have also signed Hugo Ekitike, whom Newcastle had targeted, Samuel claims.
“Liverpool have ruined Newcastle this summer. It doesn’t matter if they get Isak. They’ve wrecked Newcastle’s transfer plans involving Hugo Ekitike and disrupted their preparations by unsettling Isak—who is unlikely to play in the season opener against Aston Villa,” Samuel writes.
Isak has been training alone in Spain recently and has missed Newcastle’s pre-season build-up.
“For decades, Newcastle have produced some of the country’s greatest players—Chris Waddle, Paul Gascoigne, Peter Beardsley—only to see them play their best football elsewhere. That humiliation was supposed to end when they became the world’s richest club. But increasingly this summer, they have instead looked like the world’s richest patsy. Why does PIF make it so easy for everyone else, but incredibly difficult for Newcastle?” Samuel asks.
Manager Eddie Howe denied that Newcastle blocked a move for Isak to Liverpool:
“Unfortunately, I can’t include him in the squad right now. We would have liked to see a way back for him, but ultimately it depends on Alexander. For us, he is still our player,” Howe said over the weekend.
Newcastle open their league campaign away to Aston Villa on Saturday, 16 August at 1:30 p.m. The following round, Liverpool visit St James’ Park—then it will be clear who owns Isak by then.
£150m up front and send him dismantled like an IKEA package. CNUT.