Newcastle United transfer rumours: Magpies set for £190m January war chest, Toon fans want ex-Arsenal man as first signing

Clark, who made over 200 appearances for the Magpies in two spells as a player after coming through the club’s youth system in 1990, believes any potential success could still be a few seasons away.

The Wallsend native, who was speaking to TalkSport, believes his boyhood club could follow a similar path as Manchester City – who took four years to win their first Premier League title after their own 2008 takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group.

He said: “It’s going to be a similar process to what you’ve seen at Manchester City.

"The top players want to be competing for the top prizes, even though the club is the wealthiest in the world, what a statement that is, fantastic.

“But are they going to be able to sign the number one players in the world? All these top clubs can pay these players the same amount of money but these players want the Champions League, they want Champions League finals.

“So that’s going to be the part where you’re going from a team that’s at the moment in a relegation battle to a team that then wants to get to the next stage, that could be the top 10, then the next stage is into Europe.”