Stefan Borson: Newcastle United's new man will keep out of transfers - 'He's not a football guy’
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James Murray
Wed 17 September 2025 8:00, UK
Newcastle United’s new chief executive David Hopkinson will keep out of the club’s recruitment plans as he’s “not a football guy”.
It was confirmed last year Darren Eales would step down as Newcastle’s CEO after being diagnosed with a chronic form of blood cancer.
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Hopkinson will be spending most of his time working on corporate activities, while letting other people operate the footballing side of the business.
Hopkinson has joined Newcastle from Madison Square Garden Sports, where he was president and chief operating officer.
The Canadian also previously served time as global head of partnerships at Real Madrid.
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Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson said: “I think he’s going to allow people on the recruitment side and on the football side to do their thing because he’s going to admit that he’s not a football guy.
“But I think clearly Newcastle are now in a good position probably on PSR, so the next sort of phase of the challenge will be how do they spend?
He’s probably going to feel quite comfortable in that environment.
“That’s probably where he’s going to end up spending most of his days and letting other people get on with the football side.”
Newcastle smashed their club-record revenue in 2023-24 after their overall turnover surged from £250million to £320m, while their commercial income improved from £47m to £86m across the same period.
Football Insider revealed on 10 September Newcastle are well placed to agree commercial deals linked to their Saudi owners after Man City reached a settlement with the Premier League in regards to their associated party transactions (APT) battle.