Saudi Arabian consortium PIF completed their takeover of Newcastle United earlier this season and have offered the fans a chance to believe in a bright future on Tyneside.
The new owners invested in January to make new signings, including England international Kieran Trippier from Spanish giants Atletico Madrid.
This transfer showed Magpies fans that they can now realistically think about top-class players making their way to St. James’ Park in the coming years as PIF have flexed their financial muscle and ambition already.
Ashley disaster
However, Newcastle had a chance to sign a genuine superstar in the making whilst Mike Ashley was at the helm, only for him to fumble it. Current Liverpool forward Mo Salah opened up on a potential move to the club earlier in his career.
Speaking to Ahram Online in 2011, the attacker said: “Newcastle will soon make an official offer to sign me for one season. I don’t think Contractors will refuse to let me play in the English Premier League.
“It’s a dream for any player to play in one of the strongest league competitions in the world. I want to play abroad, I think this would be my next step.”
It remains a mystery as to why the deal did not go through and he ended up joining Basel for in 2012 for a fee Transfermarkt claim to be £2.25m, starting off his career in Europe. He spent time in Switzerland before enduring a difficult spell with Chelsea in England and then signed for Italian giants Roma in 2015.
Salah scored 34 goals and provided 22 assists in 83 matches for the Serie A side, attracting the attention of Liverpool. The Reds snapped him up in the summer of 2017 and neither party has looked back since as he has become one of the best attackers in world football whilst playing at Anfield.
Earlier this season, Jurgen Klopp claimed that there is “nobody better” than Salah in world football, placing him above Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The wing wizard, who was previously dubbed”unstoppable” by former Liverpool man Alberto Aquilani, has produced sensational numbers on Merseyside to back up his manager’s praise.
Since joining the Premier League giants, Salah has scored 153 goals and set-up a further 57 in just 239 matches – winning the PFA Player of the Year accolade in the 2017/18 campaign. The £90m-rated machine also holds the record for the most goals scored in a single 38-game Premier League season with 32 strikes.
His incredible statistics at both Roma and Liverpool, along with the praise he’s received, shows that he is one of the best in the world and that is why Ashley had a disaster with him in 2012.
The Sports Direct supremo seemingly had the opportunity to bring a player with the quality to become a superstar to St. James’ Park and ultimately failed to pull it off, with the Magpies now facing the unenviable task of having to play against him at least twice a season.
AND in other news, Howe must now brutally axe £50k-p/w Newcastle “liability” who’s “embarrassingly bad”…