Eddie Howe makes 'unfair' PIF U-turn claim after £750m Newcastle United investment

A takeover that promised so much at the time has so far delivered over £450million invested into the first team squad and an upgraded training ground at Darsley Park. That has resulted in a far more competitive squad in the Premier League with relegation battle survival followed by fourth and seventh-place finishes in the Premier League.

Champions League football (briefly) returned and Newcastle made their first major cup final since 1999 as they lost to Manchester United in the Carabao Cup last year. Newcastle is a completely different club to what it was three years ago and in almost all aspects, it’s for the better.

But three years into a takeover which outlined ambitions to compete at the top and win trophies within five years, the club still has a significant gap to bridge. There have, of course, been mitigating factors with Premier League rule changes seemingly introduced to shackle Newcastle’s new ownership model and limit the impact of the takeover.

Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules introduced have certainly impacted Newcastle’s commercial potential and in turn the club’s ability to generate revenue to comply with the dreaded Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules.

When asked about Newcastle’s ‘five year plan’ now the club are three years into the takeover, head coach Eddie Howe felt it was unfair to judge the owners on statements made back in 2021.

“Five years does seem short,” he said having been appointed a month after the takeover in November. “Especially in my shoes! At the time I don’t think the statements were rash.

“There was a feeling the club at that stage really could invest what it wanted. There is no guarantee that even with that investment you will win things, we all know that. But it gives you a much better chance.

“Since then there has been a real tightening of the rules. So it is unfair to judge them by those comments with the changing of the rules.

“Now it has become, I wouldn’t say impossible, but it has become very very difficult to achieve what they initially thought they could achieve through no fault of their own.”

In a third full season since the takeover, Newcastle will be expected to get back in Europe having narrowly missed out last season. The club will also be looking to end a 60-year domestic trophy drought this season having reached the Carabao Cup final, quarter-final and FA Cup quarter-final in the past two seasons.