The current Newcastle United owners bought the club from Mike Ashley just over 58 months ago.
The 7 October 2026 will mark the fifth anniversary of the takeover.
In total, 15 seasons we saw Newcastle United kick off a new season under Mike Ashley.
On 23 August 2026 we will see a fifth season under the current Newcastle United owners kick off.
Fair to say that this summer has been an eventful one.
Amongst all the upheaval, I have noticed a new conversation amongst some Newcastle United fans.
It might be only a minority but I still find it bizarre that now some supporters are suggesting that the current Newcastle United owners are no different to Mike Ashley. This appears to be pretty much all based on what we are seeing happening in this summer 2026 transfer window. Which is basically to do with what is NOT happening in this window.
Newcastle United fans seeing star players leaving in very expensive deals (£100m Tonali, £75m Bruno, £70m Anthony Gordon) and when it comes to incomings, five inexperienced young players coming in so far for a combined £150m or less.
I totally understand the frustration many Newcastle United fans are feeling when it comes to what is perceived as a major weakening of the playing squad. Especially with currently a sizeable net profit made in this transfer window by Newcastle United and a significant lowering of the wage bill.
However, to frame this as the Newcastle United owners running the club no differently to Mike Ashley is so wide of the mark.
I think some people with very short memories, Mike Ashley was owner of the club for 14+ ambition-free years, where he refused to invest a penny in the club’s future that he wasn’t forced to and simply did everything he could to enrich himself and his retail empire, at the expense of the football club.
Not for one second do I believe the current Newcastle United owners are here for any other reason than the benefits they can draw from owning the club. However, they are looking to do that via making the club as successful as possible, on and off the pitch.
If you need any further proof of that…
These current Newcastle United owners have invested £809m+ in the club, so far:
7 October 2021 – £305m – This is the amount of money the new/current Newcastle United owners paid to Mike Ashley.
9 November 2021 – £38.5m – This additional amount of money invested into the club by the new Newcastle United owners and then these further injections of cash by the Newcastle United owners.
24 January 2022 – £40.0m
26 October 2022 – £70.4m
10 February 2023 – £57.0m
22 August 2023 – £60.0m
28 March 2024 – £37.0m
30 October 2024 – £35.0m
31 December 2024 – £15.0m
8 September 2025 – £106.5m
9 December 2025 – £45.0m
These eleven figures above, totalling £809.4m.
So £305m originally paid to Mike Ashley, then the Saudi Arabia PIF and Reuben family having committed another £504.4m into their investment/football club. These extra investments made in proportion to their relative shareholdings, which are now 85% PIF and 15% Reuben family.
As I said earlier, this isn’t charity, this isn’t a case of a Jack Walker blindly bankrolling the club he has always supported to try and bring success. These current Newcastle United owners see the club simply as a business proposition that they eventually will benefit from, their ongoing investment is a means to an end. This is no different to pretty much any major Premier League club, for example the likes of the Villa and Forest owners are also continually putting in extra investment to try and help their clubs prosper long-term. Long-term success on and off the pitch that could see them make huge profits. Evangelos Marinakis last season alone put in over £1oom of extra investment into Forest.
Where I think we are with the current Newcastle United owners, is that they find themselves in a bit of a no man’s land.
They have been prepared to invest a certain amount of money but so far haven’t committed to the really big investment/commitment that could be the game changer. A huge new modern stadium is of course the key one. However, the much talked about new state of the art training complex still has no official announcement and we are coming up to five years of ownership. Whilst these current NUFC owners also haven’t pursued other investment routes such as multi-club ownership which could help potentially support and progress the chances of Newcastle United becoming a far more serious proposition.
These Newcastle United owners have shown that they are prepared to invest money up to a certain point, but a chasm still exists if they are to ever seriously challenge the established self-appointed elite, who built their clubs up into such dominant financial positions whilst Mike Ashley was rowing Newcastle United in the opposite direction.
The bottom line for me is that PIF and the Reuben family have shown they are committed as Newcastle United owners up to a certain level but as to whether they are then committed to try and make that huge leap which could allow NUFC to properly compete in the same financial ball park as the half dozen usual suspects, that remains an unknown.
The Financial Fair Play rules, whether PSR, SCR, or whatever, have been an additional headache, an additional obstacle on the path towards potential long-term success. The emergency sales of Minteh and Anderson were forced on the owners due to PSR. At the same time though, none of the financial rules prevent the Newcastle United owners pushing ahead with major infrastructure projects such as a brand new stadium or training ground.
A bit like their overall investment in the club, these Newcastle United owners have allowed a certain amount of money to be spent on the current stadium and training ground, bringing them up to a certain level but nowhere near what is needed when it comes to spending on infrastructure if NUFC are to stand a chance of succeeding long-term on and off the pitch.