Newcastle United are officially under new ownership after their protracted Saudi Arabia-backed takeover was finally approved by the Premier League on Thursday, potentially putting the club on the fast track to football's top tier.
It's reported that the Public Investment Fund (PIF) consortium has assets totalling around £320 billion, which puts Newcastle among the richest clubs in world football -- comparable to the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, who have all managed to gatecrash the elite level of European football over the past two decades after takeovers from various billionaire backers.