The astonishing 6-1 victory by Newcastle United over Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday only confirmed what many have been thinking this season, even if many Magpies fans have been cautious about acknowledging it: Head coach Eddie Howe’s side are well on the way to securing a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League.
The words of captain Kieran Trippier after the game will be music to the ears of supporters of the club, who have been starved of success for far too long.
“We shouldn’t be scared to say we want to play Champions League football,” he said on Sunday night. “The games are running out. This stadium would be bouncing with Champions League football.”
The incredible transformation at the club has happened in double-quick time. Newcastle have defied the odds with their stunning improvement in performance after the Saudi-led takeover of the English club, and the results have far exceeded the expectations of everyone connected with the club.
In a span of just 18 months, the Premier League club have lifted themselves from the brink of relegation, fighting their way out of the bottom three, to chasing a Champions League spot, a trajectory many expected would take years to achieve.
The club have undergone a massive shift in performance since the Saudi Public Investment Fund acquired the club in a $380 million deal completed in October 2021, as the Wall Street Journal reported recently.
Newcastle are sitting third in the Premier League after Sunday’s win, with just seven games left to play, and in a prime position to qualify for the Champions League with a top-four finish.
This speedy progress only demonstrates how wise the Saudi investment in the club has been. Shortly after their takeover, the new owners spent more than $110 million to enhance the club’s playing staff during the January 2022 transfer window in their bid to avoid relegation. With Eddie Howe also appointed as coach to shepherd them to safety, the plan worked a treat and ultimately Newcastle comfortably retained their place in the English top flight.
Since then, more smart additions to the team have arrived, such as Sven Botman and Alexander Isak. More money will be spent on the squad this summer, no doubt, and the club stands to receive a potential $80 million boost from Champions League qualification.
“We need to be smart with what we do,” Eddie Howe told the Wall Street Journal. “We are on a journey that is accelerating very quickly and we need to match that with our decision-making.”
Newcastle director Amanda Staveley, who led the Saudi takeover, said the Public Investment Fund is “effectively a pension fund” that is “managing money for future generations.”
While many initially questioned the fund’s decision to buy Newcastle instead of targeting a more established giant of English football, such as Tottenham, Chelsea or Liverpool, the progress made so far at the club might prove to be the harbinger of a wise and successful long-term vision.
Newcastle now sit ahead of all three of those teams in the Premier League, proving that the fund has invested in the right players, who did not have the luxury of time to save a toiling club but nonetheless have managed to show that in the world of football, an incredible recovery in fortunes that might normally be expected to take a decade can happen in under 18 months.
