Newcastle United chief breaks silence as PIF-club lodge £75m transfer bid for Premier League star

PIF-owned club Al-Nassr have made two big money moves for Premier League stars this transfer window, striking a £65million deal with Aston Villa to sign 21-year-old striker Jhon Duran. According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, the Saudi club also made a £75million bid for Brighton & Hove Albion winger Kaoru Mitoma.

Mitoma, 27, has five goals and three assists for Brighton in the Premier League this season while Duran has scored seven goals in 20 league appearances. Although Brighton have knocked back Al-Nassr’s bid - the inflated transfer fees for players outside of the traditional ‘big six’ clubs in the Premier League are interesting to see as Newcastle continue to struggle in the transfer market.

The Magpies have recently sold Miguel Almiron to Atlanta United for around £10million but have been poor sellers in general in recent seasons with their transfer spend significantly outweighing the money recouped through sales. Brighton are at the opposite end of the scale and helped Newcastle satisfy PSR last summer with a late £33million bid for Yankuba Minteh.

With Newcastle also being majority-owned by PIF, there is a frustration among the fanbase that the Saudi Arabian clubs owned by the Public Investment Fund are effectively helping rival Premier League clubs satisfy PSR while their club struggles.

Barring the PSR scramble sales of Elliot Anderson and Minteh last summer, Newcastle’s biggest sale since the takeover saw Allan Saint-Maximin - a player of a similar age, position and profile to Mitoma - join PIF-owned Saudi club Al-Ahli in a deal worth around £22million.

PIF governor Yasir Al Rumayyan is chairman of Newcastle but is not a board member of any of the PIF-owned Saudi Pro League sides. However, Newcastle board member Abdulmajeed Alhagbani is also on the board at Saudi Pro League champions Al-Hilal.

While it was once suggested Newcastle could benefit from the money in the Saudi Pro League clear links through PIF, almost the opposite seems to be happening in reality.

What Eddie Howe thinks of the Saudi Pro League transfer business

Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe was asked about the transfer activity in the Saudi Pro League this month, namely at Al-Nassr.

“I've looked on with interest with the Saudi league because, initially, there was a huge outlay of transfer fees and wages for players from England,” said the Newcastle chief. “That seemed to really settle down last summer. There was minimal activity.

“There were a few, but minimal compared to the summer before and now there are selected players who are moving there. It's interesting to see how that league develops, but we haven't been the beneficiary of many bids.”

Saudi Pro League clubs have been linked with a number of Newcastle players with Miguel Almiron previously having a move lined-up before joining Atlanta United. Martin Dubravka also had an offer from non-PIF club Al-Shabab though that deal would not have benefitted Newcastle financially had it been sanctioned.

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