Yasir Al-Rumayyan has admitted that he is still waiting for the day where he is not offered the chance to invest in a supposedly great business opportunity.
Al-Rumayyan's admission, perhaps, hints at what an attractive proposition owning Newcastle United was as Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) made an exception and actually felt moved to invest in a European football club.
The PIF, of course, joined forces with Amanda Staveley and the Reuben Brothers to try and buy Newcastle last year, but the consortium encountered complications with the Premier League's owners' and directors' test after agreeing a deal with Mike Ashley.
READ MORE: Newcastle chiefs will be influenced by untouchables
The Premier League believed that the Saudi state would have to become a director of the club as part of any takeover and this verdict is now the subject of an arbitration dispute, which is due to get under way next year.
Ashley has also launched a separate anti-competition claim against the Premier League and it will be interesting to see if the PIF keep an eye on proceedings when the opening skirmishes take place on Wednesday.
Although the PIF walked away from the deal, ChronicleLive previously revealed in August last year that the Saudis would be prepared to revisit the bid if the Premier League gave the takeover the green light but a lot of time has passed since then.
However, while the PIF have been linked with bids for Marseille and Inter Milan, perhaps tellingly, the Saudis have not bought another club since attempting to take up an 80% stake in Newcastle.
The PIF have certainly had opportunities to do so and, while appearing at the Future Investment Initiative series last week, Al-Rumayyan was asked by interviewer David Rubenstein if he could ever go anywhere where somebody does not say to him that they have a 'great investment opportunity'.
"I haven't seen that yet," the governor of the PIF laughed. "I'm looking for that!"
Rubenstein then followed up that question by asking Al-Rumayyan if people were always telling him that their opportunity was the best.
"Absolutely," he added.
We want to hear your thoughts on this story, so LOG IN and leave your comment below
