Mind-blowing £694m Newcastle United reveal speaks volumes as PIF’s ‘two big concerns’ emerge

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Newcastle United officially have one of the most expensively-assembled squads on the planet, a fact that would have been unimaginable before PIF’s takeover.

The Saudi Public Investment Fund bought Newcastle United in October 2021, paying £305m alongside minority investment partners the Reuben Brothers and Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital.

Since then, and despite being frustrated by Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), the Magpies under Eddie Howe have twice qualified for the Champions League and won a first trophy, the League Cup, in 56 years.

After a summer that brought them back down to earth, reinforcing their position in the transfer food chain, they have had an underwhelming start to 2025-26, both in the Premier League and Europe.

But even in the context of losing Alexander Isak and missing out on several top targets, the club is still infinitely further down the line than they were under Mike Ashley.

Their wage bill in 2023-24 was £219m, and it will have risen beyond that once their 2024-25 accounts are released. This season, there are suggestions in the football finance world that it could hit £300m.

For context, that would be approximately on par with the likes of Man United and higher than Tottenham.

PIF have benefited, of course, from the Premier League gravy train. The latest cycle of the division’s domestic TV deal kicked in in August, worth almost £7bn over its four-year lifetime.

Newcastle, as a club now consistently fighting in the top third of the table and one of the most frequently televised, will be outsized beneficiaries of that bonanza.

And the latest data illustrates exactly how much purchasing power the club has financially, even within the confines of PSR and UEFA’s equivalent financial rules.

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Newcastle’s squad is more expensive than European titans like Barcelona and Juventus

New research from CIES Football Observatory, a data-gathering and insights firm, has concluded that Newcastle are in the top 10 for the most expensively-assembled squads in the world.

The Magpies come in at 9th place, only a few millions behind Galactico-laden Real Madrid.

There is then a big gap of over £200m between Newcastle and next closest challengers, Atletico Madrid.

All of Newcastle’s 15 most expensive transfers have come in the PIF era. In total, their squad is worth around £694m.

Their financial might is reflected in the fact that they paid hundreds of millions more for their players that the likes of Atletico, as well as Barcelona, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund to name but a few.

Newcastle were barely limited by PSR in the summer, even before Isak’s departure.

That is thanks both to a relatively restrained season of recruitment in 2024-25, the guarantee of Champions League income this season, and booming commercial income.

• READ MORE: Eddie Howe made huge error with Newcastle star who was ‘undefendable at times’ vs Barcelona

PIF benefit from Premier League’s financial muscle, but Saudi government’s priorities and PSR are problematic

“Operating in the Premier League is both a positive and a negative from PIF’s perspective,” says Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to TBR Football about the Premier League’s financial supremacy and what PIF saw in the league to invest here rather than another of Europe’s big leagues.

“If you look at QSI and what they have achieved with Paris Saint-Germain,” continues the Liverpool University football finance lecturer and Price of Football podcast host, “they have effectively got guaranteed Champions League revenues ad infinitum going forward because Ligue 1 is a one-horse race.

“The downside is that we have seen the collapse of the French TV deal. The Premier League is as impervious as you can get in terms of media revenue.

“You can either be a dominant party in another league like PSG or you can go to the Premier League, which is largely immune to revenue shocks but simultaneously is much more competitive.

“Newcastle know that there are only five Champions League places available. That’s the challenge for them. If you look at the gap between themselves and the next tier of clubs…. Man United hit £160m in matchday income, which is three times Newcastle. How do you bridge that gap in a PSR environment? That’s a major concern.

“The other concern for Newcastle is in terms of where PIF’s priorities lie going forward. Do they want to concentrate on the growth of the Saudi Pro League and domestic football? Or, do they still want to continue to grow Newcastle? Those are the two big concerns.

“There has been nothing new in terms of the redevelopment of the stadium or the new training ground – and they have been there four years now.”