Newcastle United Owners Want To Copy Manchester City Model

Newcastle United's Saudi owners want to copy Manchester City's successful ownership model in one way, and buy more clubs around the world.

Newcastle's owners were certainly welcomed to the north east by fans of the club, when they took over from Mike Ashley in October last year.

The atmosphere inside St James' Park for the first game, against Tottenham Hotspur, showed how glad fans were to get rid of the old owner.

Since coming to the club, the new owners have sacked Steve Bruce, replaced him with Eddie Howe and signed Kieran Trippier and Chris Woods, as the team attempt to save themselves from relegation.

However the bigger moves are set to come in the future, and it's not just in the shape of signings, with Newcastle ready to copy City's owners' model.

According to the Times, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, which owns 80% of Newcastle, want to add to their portfolio of clubs, making the Premier League side the 'focal point' of their global sports teams.

Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan and Amanda Staveley have big plans for Newcastle. Image: PA Images

City's Abu Dhabi United Group owners started with the Premier League champions, but have since invested in a total of 10 clubs across the world.

As well as Pep Guardiola's side, they also have a 100% ownership in Melbourne City, in Australia, Montevideo City Torque, in Uruguay, and Troyes, in France.

They also have major investment in MLS side New York City, Belgian team Lommel S.K, India's Mumbai FC, Spanish side Girona, China League One's Sichuan Jiuniu and Japanese outfit Yokohama F. Marinos.

As well as the men's teams, the owners have also invested in women's teams in Manchester, Melbourne, Troyes and Girona.

Jonjo Shelvey's winner against Leeds at the weekend would have lifted spirits at Newcastle. Image: PA Images

However, unlike City, the report in the Times says that Newcastle's owners might look outside of just football for their investment into clubs.

The country has already controversially brought the likes of golf and tennis to the country for annual tournaments, and have also hosted boxing events.

Anthony Joshua, who denied reports he's accepted step aside money for his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, won back his world titles from Andy Ruiz Jr in Jeddah, in their rematch.

WWE have also done several shows from the middle east country and all sports who have visited have had their fair share of criticism due to Saudi Arabia's human rights record.

Topics: Premier League, Manchester City, Newcastle United

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

@Sidler28