'Bigger issues' - Newcastle United verdict after Yasir Al-Rumayyan's PIF announcement

As it stands, around 30% of PIF’s portfolio is tied up overseas. This includes Newcastle, who they own a 85% stake in following their majority takeover in October 2021.

Sport has played an integral part in the PIF’s spending by investing significantly in Boxing, MMA, F1, snooker, darts, WWE and the Saudi Pro League. Vision 2030 is Saudi Arabia’s ambitious project to diversify the country’s economy away from oil by the end of the decade.

But almost a decade into the government-backed programme, PIF are poised to tilt their outlay towards domestic spending. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Newcastle’s non-executive chairman who also serves as PIF’s governor, opened up about the wealth fund’s meteoric rise.

“The (international investments of the fund) increased from two per cent (in 2015) all the way up to 30 per cent”, he told the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh. “Now our target is to bring it down to a range between 18 to 20 per cent.

“People used to come to us and ask for money. We are now seeing that shift from people wanting to take our money to people wanting to co-invest. All of these companies are big investors in new sectors that were not in existence in Saudi Arabia. People are seeing the difference, from their perception of Saudi Arabia back in 2015.”

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Al-Rumayyan’s comments had sparked fear among Newcastle fans that PIF would reduce their investment but such talk has been talked down by several sources, including Borson.

“I suspect it won’t have any impact at all,” Borson told Football Insider. “At the end of the day, the numbers that you are talking about in terms of Premier League football are miniscule compared to the investments that are being made by PIF.

“Newcastle’s limitations as we know are largely driven by the financial regulations in the sport. That’s not just the Premier League PSR stuff and the new regime that’s coming in, but also UEFA. I don’t think it will have any impact at all.

“I think they have got bigger issues Newcastle with regulation and £100million here or there that we are talking about from PIF to maybe fund the sponsorship of the training ground or some other infrastructure around the stadium in the grand scheme of Saudi money is neither here nor there.

“I would say overall it will have no impact.”