Prepare yourselves for some next-level hypocrisy in the media as Liverpool and Manchester United are both being eyed by potential Saudi investors after being hinted at being for sale.
An article on the BBC website credits Saudi Arabia’s sports minister with saying: “From the private sector, I can’t speak on their behalf, but there is a lot of interest and appetite and there’s a lot of passion about football.
“It’s the most-watched league in Saudi and the region and you have a lot of fans of the Premier League.
“We will definitely support it if any [Saudi] private sector comes in, because we know that’s going to reflect positively on sports within the kingdom.
“But if there’s an investor willing to do so and the numbers add up, why not?”
Manchester United and Liverpool are both media darlings and sit among the “big six” or “Sky Sports Six”, whatever you want to call them. So because of this, I’m expecting any Saudi investment to be treated with maybe, half of the uproar and ire we received when our takeover went through.
Of course, there will be those who speak out against it, sure, but I dare say a large swathe of those who were very vocal about our takeover being the most evil thing to happen in the world since some Austrian with a dodgy moustache went a bit mad will be much quieter on the subject. The number one person on that list will be Miguel Delaney who has been like a dog with a bone since the takeover went through. He’s a Manchester United supporter by all accounts (although this has never been confirmed by Delaney himself), so what will his excuse be?
I can already tell you what the get-out clause will be for these people – “Our club is owned by a private Saudi firm, Newcastle is owned by the state”.
Honestly, it’s going to be so interesting watching this unfold over the next few months and to see who is truly concerned about human rights and who was using it as a way to get clicks/seem relevant/be anti-Newcastle.