As happy as most Newcastle United fans are with the recent takeover of their club, there are many out there who remain very skeptical about the whole operation.
Whether it be on a practical or even moral point of view, many are already questioning if this was a wise move by the Premier League to let the Public Investment Fund purchase 80% of the club.
One of those is Bundesliga CEO Christian Seifert, a guest on the Bild football talk show Reif ist Live this week, who was asked directly about the Newcastle takeover.
He said: “There have been investors in the past who have raised question marks, at least once. In my almost 17 years at the DFL (Deutsche Fußball Liga), we also had situations where investors suddenly came around the corner – of course within the framework of the 50+1 rules – and question marks were raised.
“We have been moralising a bit in Germany recently, and we raise our index finger in warning. In one dimension or the other, if you are honest, we are no longer really first class as a country, but morally, we are always first class. Personally, I’m a little suspicious”.
With a total estimated assets of $500bn or so backing them, Newcastle United are now the richest club in the world, surpassing the likes of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.
If those two aforementioned clubs are anything to go by, and the Magpies manoeuvre the transfer market well over the next year or so, things could go from bad (currently 19th in the Premier League) to very good for the club.
We’ll have to wait and see how their growth plan is executed in the coming years, but if they are as invested into the project as they claim to be, then there could be very exciting times, at least on the football pitch, for Newcastle United fans ahead.
