The scene seemed surreal and unprecedented: a man in a tie came out of the Newcastle United offices and informed the crowd at the gates of St James’ Park that, finally, after lengthy negotiations, the sale of the club to the PIF had been authorized and signed. , the ultra-million dollar Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. It was official: the old man Newcastle from that moment on he became a new rich man in football, the richest of all. A crowd of a thousand or two thousand fans in black and white jerseys exploded in a shout as if it were a goal at minute 95 that gave them the league title. Then there were chants, jumps, hugs and demonstrations of emotion, a caravan parade through the streets of the city.
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Olympic laps by signing a paper. Newcastle is the most popular club in the north of England and with an extraordinary tradition. But his last league title dates back to 1927. Almost a century…! And his last English Cup was in 1955. Old glories. And few. There are hardly any fans left alive who have celebrated a coronation as teenagers and can remember the team’s lineup. It’s all too old.
Tired of vegetating in the Premier League, crying out for relegation and rejoicing with promotions, of mediocrity, fans of the Magpies dream of, in a couple of years, snatching the titles from the Big Six, the exclusive circle of Manchester, United and City , Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham. They even plan to step on the foot in Europe to Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and other tufted ones. The PIF, for its acronym in English, is a fund with assets of 320,000 million euros, that is, with more economic power than all the rest of the Premier League combined. If they have a good eye, they can sign all the Haalands and Mbappés that emerge and build a very strong squad. Hence the illusion of the fans. They see that they can transform the Big Six into Big Seven, which can repeat with them the success of Chelsea, Manchester City, Paris Saint Germain and others who, with the landing of great fortunes, took a leap in quality and changed their history of frustrations from resounding successes.
Newcastle fans are already wearing tunics to see their team.
Lindsey Parnaby / AFP
Chelsea was a historic London club that had achieved a league (in 1955) until the arrival of Russian magnate Roman Abramovich on July 1, 2003. From there it had exceptional growth and became a planetary club, obtaining 20 titles, including 5 leagues, 5 English Cup, 2 Europa League and 2 Champions, in addition to 14 runners-up. It has been phenomenal for his fans and for English football. Almost identical to the Manchester City film, which from the arrival of the Emirati fund became a leading club in the world. He wore two leagues in his showcases (1937 and 1968), now he is a multi-champion who sits at the table of Madrid, the other Manchester (who had him as a youngest son for decades), Bayern or Barça.
The same happened with Paris Saint Germain, a club that held two local championships and, since the arrival of the Qatari group, added 7, plus 12 national cups, in addition to being a finalist in Europe. All three are already at the top, they are a universal reference. Is it bad for football that there are more strong participants with access to success…?
(What’s more: James Rodríguez had not seen a red card for more than ten years)
Other teams look at the purchase with suspicion, but …
“We cannot sign like Chelsea because our owner is not a country or an oligarch,” he said, by way of complaint -and excuse- Jurgen Klopp, the excellent German coach of Liverpool, when asked last September about the reinforcements of the London team, which totaled 223 million euros. It should also be clarified that Chelsea was for two markets without signings due to a suspension from Fifa.
Klopp was referring in the first case to Manchester City and PSG, which are owned by sovereign investment funds from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar respectively. In other words, they belong to those countries. The criticism is pointless: Liverpool is an asset of John W. Henry, who also owns the Boston Globe and Fenway Sports Group, an American corporation that owns the Boston Red Sox, a Nascar racing team and several sports companies. music and other kinds. I mean, Henry is a few steps lower than Abramovich on the Forbes list, but he’s not a beggar.
Liverpool is an asset of John W. Henry, who also owns the Boston Globe and Fenway Sports Group, a corporation that owns the Red Sox, a Nascar team …
Then, it is worth underlining that Liverpool is a team built on a checkbook. Except for Alexander Arnold and Curtis Jones, the rest of the payroll is checkbook, not quarry. Twenty members of his squad came from other clubs at very high prices. Only goalkeeper Alisson and defender Van Dijk cost him 73 and 85 million euros (ordered by Klopp). The two dozen elements that were champions of Europe and England were bought by the directive from the German coach. This is how he put together the team. Klopp, who likes to play modest, is part of the old custom that everything that is not European is doubtful
It cannot be said that only PSG, City or Chelsea are wallet teams, all the greats in Europe are. Those accustomed to crowning are bothered by the appearance of new competitors with title possibilities, on the other hand it is healthy for football. Real Madrid and its related media accused PSG of economic arrogance for not releasing Mbappé to them. “They do it because they have money, what a shame …” But they, the poor, offered him 220 million euros for the striker.
And the big teams in Spain, whose are they?
In Spain they fill their mouths presuming that Madrid and Barça are democratically managed clubs by their members and not by potentates (who are also). The democracy of Madrid is a unicato in which Florentino Pérez has reigned for decades. And he will reign until health permits. By the way: does anyone know of any other Madrid manager …? And the Barça…? What is the pride of owing two billion euros…? Did Bartomeu consult with his partners about the purchase of Coutinho, Dembelé or Griezmann for more than 600 million euros, adding contracts and commissions…?
There is no club in England, France, Italy, that does not belong to millionaires. Just one example: Rocco Comisso, owner of Fiorentina, has assets of 6,500 million euros. Berlusconi has just bought Monza, which plays in Serie “B”. The Rennes, of France, belongs to François Pinault, archimegaultrarico, holder of the brands Gucci, Balenciaga, Iyes Saint Laurent, etc. It so happens that the one with a billion brays against the one with ten billion. And if we start to scrutinize the origin of the fortunes, maybe soccer should stop.
(In other news: Luis Díaz is unstoppable, see the great goal he scored with Porto)
The dark side of Newcastle’s new boss – Prince Mohamed bin Salman Al Saud – is that he is accused of gross human rights violations. And that is not celebrated.
Last tango …
Jorge Barraza
For the time
@JorgeBarrazaOK
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