Aston Villa CEO Christian Purslow has backed calls for the Premier League to revisit Newcastle United's takeover by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. The Villa chief is concerned by the levels of spending and warned foreign government backed ownership groups present a “clear and present” danger to the future of the top flight.
The £300million takeover at St. James' Park was given the green light in October 2021, with the Premier League confirming it had received "legally binding assurances that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not control" the Magpies. The Toon sit in the top-four at the time of writing and look on course to play Champions League football next season.
Aston Villa have also enjoyed an impressive turnaround under their new boss Unai Emery and they're in the hunt for a European place having risen to fifth. When sked if the League should look again at the Newcastle takeover, Purslow told the Mirror replied: “Yes, I do. And I think they are and they would.
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“If there is a contradiction in representation made at the time of the takeover, as to the nature of the relationship between the rulers of that country, the sovereign wealth fund and Newcastle, of course, the Premier League, I'm sure, are investigating that.”
However, Purslow's concerns are not limited to just Newcastle, with Manchester City is owned by Sheikh Mansour from Abu Dhabi and there's recent interest from Qatar in Manchester United.
He added: “I am profoundly worried about it. It is a clear and present danger. I don't want to look back in 20 years' time and say that I was part of a group that were asleep at the wheel.
“And in 20 years' time we look back and three teams, controlled by nations, are the only three teams winning the Premier League ever again. How do we stop that? We stop it with what we have today, which is extremely strict financial rules.”
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