Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has been making headlines once again after it was revealed that a Saudi Arabian backed consortium is reportedly interested in purchasing the North-East club. However, fans of the Magpies should be wary before rejoicing at the news that Ashley could be exiting Newcastle after a tense 13-year stay on Tyneside. Further west a similar takeover has occurred at Everton which is yet to transform the Toffees as Farhad Moshiri may have first imagined.
The ambitious Goodison Park owner outlined a three-year strategy, beginning in 2016, to get the Merseyside club challenging for Champions League spots. Yet it has not yet gone to plan with Everton’s best finish to date under the Iranian businessman seventh in 2016/17, while they currently sit 12th after 24 matches. Furthermore, there have been a series of managers with conflicting ideas who have arrived in Liverpool, with ‘muddled thinking’ present within the Everton hierarchy, culminating in an unbalanced side. There is no reason to say a similar set of circumstances could not occur at Newcastle United, as Everton have proved money does not automatically correlate with success.
During his tenure as Everton owner Moshiri has shelled out around £450m on players alone. Although Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund could completely dwarf that total, the Toffees have shown how fortunes can be frivolously wasted without seriously affecting a team’s performance on the pitch. Most would look to Manchester City as a takeover akin to the proposed acquisition of Newcastle, due to their Abu Dhabi ownership. Still, in the beginning, signings such as Robinho’s arrival for a then British record fee did not work out as some may have hoped.
While most Newcastle United supporters will be grateful to see the back of Ashley, given his less than favourable perception with the majority of Magpies fans, that does not mean a new ownership structure will automatically restore the mid 90’s glory days to St James’ Park. A change at the top would bring about plenty of optimism at a club that has been stuck in a downward pessimistic cycle for some time. But any positive outpourings should be muted as there would be a long road to recovery ahead if any new owner has the ambition of restoring Newcastle United to their former stature. Everton are proof that spending vast sums of money does not guarantee success in the English top-flight.
