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sheesh
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https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... ein-sports

This is interesting. Newcastle can be a force again, if run properly. They've got the fanbase.

At the time Sheikh Mansour was looking for a club, I would have thought Newcastle would have been a better proposition than City.
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sheesh wrote: 2 years ago https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... ein-sports

This is interesting. Newcastle can be a force again, if run properly. They've got the fanbase.

At the time Sheikh Mansour was looking for a club, I would have thought Newcastle would have been a better proposition than City.
The Mansours had a list of potential clubs to use for their sportwashing project, and it came down to Newcastle and City - and they ended up going with City cos of Manchester airport

That's why I laugh when City fans talk as if the Mansours love City, mancunians, the "cityzens". It's bullshit. If they'd have bought Newcastle they'd have been saying the same thing - oh we love geordies, we love Newcastle brown ale etc

Cunts
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The football authorities / gov pushed this Saudi takeover into the long grass cos they didn't want to piss off the Saudis or Qataris. They hate each other cos of this beIN Sports shenanigans (and other stuff). But that seems to be resolved now, so all that's left is for the authorities here to approve the deal, which is likely to happen cos everybody's shit scared of bin Salman personally, and of his family business, Aramco, (the richest company in the world) which runs more than 10% of the world's oil supply - the biggest by far

Salman recently issued Johnson a threat that if the deal wasn't approved soon there would be "commercial and economic consequences" for Britain, as he was growing tired of waiting. The deal also involves the billionaire Reuben brothers, who're long time Tory donors, and personally very close to to Boris Johnson (they paid to do up his office).

So basically it's gonna happen. I think for many it will be a bridge too far - not just cos of the human rights stuff, but cos of the unfairness of the Prem. City have all but a monopoly domestically, the oil clubs dominate the CL - the Saudis will add to that and possibly out do them all as nobody is as rich and powerful as Salman outside of the US and China. He has the oil dependent nations by the balls.
sheesh
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I didn't know the background behind the deal, so that's a really helpful explanation, Sid.
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Bit more info from Sky & Forbes: the Saudi public investment fund that is going to have an 80% stake (so full control), is worth 320bn. The next richest is the Mansours with 23bn.

But outside of that, Aramco, bin Salman's family business that supplies the world's oil, is worth between 1/2 trillion dollars. This is the real investment fund, as this is basically the extent of the Saudi economy.

So that's what we're up against. A new level of spending we won't be able to get close to.

But as I said earlier, it's not just about money but political power. Bin Salman is hugely powerful, so I wouldn't be surprised if we saw them lobbying for some massive changes to English football - possibly in the share of TV rights and the return of the ESL?
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Jason
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Sid wrote: 2 years ago
This is going to happen, and when it does, it's over for the english game.

Man City will be able to keep up with the Saudis to a certain degree, but Newcastle will become the best club in England, will only be a matter of time. It's inevitable when backed by a fund with so much cash, and like you said, can only lead to other issues down the road when you have someone so powerful having a direct interest/influence on the game.

Took city 4 years from being bought by Abu Dhabi to become Champions, backed by the saudis, Newcastle could do it even sooner!

It's too late now, but they should have never really allowed state backed funds from buying up teams
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"Assurances" - well that's me convinced!

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bman2
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Sid wrote: 2 years ago "Assurances" - well that's me convinced!

Right, because the Saudis are paying for 80% of the club not to own any of it…

Disgraceful. UAE is bad, but Saudi Arabia is a whole other level. Will women still be allowed to attend matches?
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JoelfuckingGlazer
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I think I'm done with top flight football. Another moneybags, financially doped and state funded club is bad enough. But for it to be Saudi Arabia? Fuck right off.
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