(Credit: Getty Images / Hasan Karim - Breaking Media)

Ben Palmer

Tue 12 August 2025 16:00, UK

Newcastle’s owners’ vision for their sporting project is hindering the Magpies and could be the catalyst that sees Alexander Isak join Liverpool.

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That is according to football finance expert Dan Plumley, who told Football Insider that the Saudi Arabian Private Investment Fund’s (PIF) end goal was currently unclear, and it is showing in their management of the North Eastern club.

When the Magpies were bought in 2021, they became the richest team in the world and expectations went through the roof.

Newcastle won the Carabao Cup under Eddie Howe.

James’ Park.

This article contains exclusive comment from Dan Plumley, a football finance expert and senior lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University.

One of the issues with PIF’s ownership is that Newcastle are merely a small part of the bigger sporting strategy that is being employed.

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And unfortunately for Eddie Howe‘s side, there have been several instances where their rivals have benefitted from that.

Chelsea signed Joao Pedro and Liam Delap after interest from Newcastle in the duo, and duly won the Club World Cup, netting a huge windfall of prize money in the process, which largely came from the PIF, thus paying for the two strikers’ moves to West London.

Liverpool are now looking to sign Alexander Isak and they have also been given a financial boost by the Magpies’ owners, as Al-Hilal, a PIF-owned club, signed Darwin Nunez.

(Credit: Hasan Karim, Breaking Media)

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Plumley explained why the Saudi Arabian strategy was having a negative effect on Newcastle: “There’s fascinating subplots to this.

“PIF partly bankrolled the Club World Cup, which Chelsea ended up winning.

We don’t know that, and we won’t know that unless we sit them down and get it from them in person, which is highly unlikely.

“But how does what they’re going to do with Newcastle impact what they’re trying to do with the Saudi Pro League and those clubs that they’re bankrolling there as well?

“In selling Nunez to Al-Hilal they might have given Liverpool a bit of a helping hand to come back in for Isak.

“But there’s also the other side of that, that Liverpool would have wanted him anyway before they’d sold Nunez.”

Not only are PIF bankrolling the Magpies’ rivals but they are now also threatening to sign players from under Newcastle’s nose.

Stefan Borson told Football Insider that Yoane Wissa could be about to join Al-Nassr, a PIF-owned club.

Yoane Wissa is a target for Newcastle.

(Credit: Manh Tung, Breaking Media)

The Brentford forward emerged as a target after Hugo Ekitike, Benjamin Sesko, Pedro, and Delap all snubbed moves to the North East.

However, Newcastle now face the possibility of missing out on another striker target thanks to their owners.

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