Newcastle United's global ambition revealed as club seeks 'high-value sponsorship' deals

Premier League survival is the short-term goal of the 17th-placed club, which was taken over in October by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners and Jamie Reuben’s RB Sports & Media in a £305million deal.

However, the new ownership team's long-term ambition is to be the “best football club in the world”.

The club is recruiting “one or more experienced commercial lawyers to oversee the legal aspects of the club's broad and complex commercial operations”, according to a job advert posted on LinkedIn.

And the job description gives a revealing insight into the worldwide ambitions of the club’s owners, who bankrolled a transfer spend of more than £80million last month.

There’s also a hint at the expected new sponsorship deals which are being lined up by the club, which is 80%-owned by PIF.

It reads: "We're at the start of a journey. Newcastle United' s new owners have one ambition: to be the best football club in the world.

“To fulfil this ambition, the club aims to create a business that is 'best in class' in all respects, and, as part of this, we are looking to hire one or more experienced commercial lawyer(s) to oversee the legal aspects of the club's broad and complex commercial operations, including high-value sponsorship arrangements, at the start of what promises to be a very exciting period for the club.

"The candidate will also be working with the general counsel and external counsel on a variety of legal matters across the club's business, including player transfers, intellectual property matters, corporate governance and compliance matters.”

Applicants must have experience of drafting and negotiating commercial contracts, though experience of working with football clubs is not a prerequisite.

Newcastle’s commercial income stagnated during Mike Ashley’s time as owner, and the club’s powerful new ownership group is looking to increase revenues through new deals.

Sports betting firm Fun88 renewed their shirt sponsorship deal with Newcastle in the summer of 2020.

The length of the extension was not revealed at the club.

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