Ronaldo to Newcastle? Howe issues POSITIVE response to Saudi loan moves

Cameron Smith

• 17 Jul 2023 07:41 BST
• 4 min read

Eddie Howe has responded to questions asking whether Newcastle United will sign some of the best players in the Saudi Pro League on loan.

Newcastle were taken over by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) in late 2021, with the PIF becoming the majority shareholder and de facto owner of the club when they acquired 80% of the club’s shares in October 2021.

The PIF now also own the four biggest clubs in the Saudi Pro League - Al Ahli, Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad, and Al-Hilal.

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Those four clubs have signed the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, Ruben Neves, Marcelo Brozovic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Kalidou Koulibaly in the last 12 months, with the PIF pumping money into the league in order to attract some of the best players in world football.

Given they share the same owner, Newcastle have been linked with signing the aforementioned stars on loan. Furthermore, Howe hasn’t played down rumours suggesting loan deals could be struck.

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What has Howe said?

In response to being questioned about the possibility of signing Saudi Pro League players on loan, Howe said: “That depends on if it is the right thing for Newcastle. We’ll always act with our best interests first.”

Newcastle’s only summer signing so far has been the €64 million addition of Italy international Sandro Tonali from AC Milan - a huge coup for the club. But, the Magpies boss admitted that despite the wealth of their owners, Newcastle won’t be able to spend similar money for the rest of the summer.

“There is no way we’ll be able to go for that calibre or price in every transfer,” Howe revealed. “That is not a blueprint we are following because now we are going to have to be clever with the remaining funds we have.

“We have a very strict budget that we’re trying to work within. At times there have been frustrations and difficult days. I’ve been through all emotions this summer. I’m very pleased to get Sandro [Tonali] in but we know we need more.

“We are prepared to be patient and wait for the right ones but we are also aware we need to strengthen, so there might come a time when we need to move things quicker. With the competitions that we’re in, having three games a week, we need to be able to rotate the team but to be able to bring in players who are of equal standard.

“We might need to be creative but we’re trying to look at every avenue we can to make the club stronger."

Howe was also asked about the vast sums of money being thrown at players to move to Saudi Arabia. “I don’t think the fees have been excessive necessarily - maybe the wages have, which is making it attractive to players,” he responded.