Newcastle United have entered the promised land of unrivaled wealth and ability to bring in almost any player in the world to the North East of England. As of October 2021, the Magpies are the wealthiest club on the planet with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia taking the helm of the gargantuan English soccer side.
Newcastle have already made moves in the recent January transfer window, and this has already witnessed the club catapult out of the relegation zone and into 12th last campaign.
Now, with a full transfer window under their belt, we look back at the last two times an English club was bought out by billionaire owners, as Chelsea and Manchester City rocketed to the top of the Premier League soon thereafter.
The State of Things at Newcastle
Despite City and Chelsea winning trophies almost immediately after the new owners came in, things are set to be very different at Newcastle. Firstly, those two clubs still exist at the top end of the table, and along with the likes of Arsenal getting better and Liverpool returning to their former glory days, the Premier League is far more competitive than it was when those clubs were purchased.
What’s more, Financial Fair Play now circles like sharks around clubs spending large sums of money, which is something Chelsea and City didn’t have to contend with in the early days of new ownership. Now, clubs across Europe cannot spend more than they earn in revenue, which will restrict a club like Newcastle on the transfer market.
On the other hand, they do have more money at their disposal than 19 other clubs in the league, which will certainly make things interesting for fans of the club.
What Happened in Chelsea’s First Season With New Owners?
It was July 2003 that Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich, bought Chelsea and brought in an immediate change to the clubs spending and Premier League status.
The Blues were already on the rise under former owner Ken Bates, with them moving up to fourth in the Premier League and securing two FA Cups and a League Cup between 1996-2000. When the money came in however, it took just two seasons for Abramovich to capture the Premier League crown, as Jose Mourinho’s men won the league in 2004/05.
In the first season, however, a total of £121,150,000 would come in across the summer and winter transfer windows, along with just £500,000 of income for players sold. Juan Sebastián Verón from rivals Manchester United stole the headlines that summer, with superstar names like Hernán Crespo from Inter Milan and Claude Makélélé from Real Madrid being the standout names on paper.
Damien Duff was the most expensive signing from the Blackburn Rovers, and considering this all equalled to their then-highest Premier League finish (2nd) and a position above the serial winners, Man United, it’s fair to say it was a fantastic debut year for the new owners.
The £121,150,000 Abramovich spent in his first full season at Chelsea would be closer to £1bn in today’s market, if not more. Clubs like Newcastle will not get away with such astronomical spending in one transfer window, and it just goes to show the outrageous amounts of money the Russian poured into the club.
What Went Down in City’s First Season With New Ownership?
It was just five years after the purchase of Chelsea by Abramovich when the Abu Dhabi United Group bought Manchester City from Thaksin Shinawatra just a month into the 2008/09 season.
Due to the timing of the sale, City missed the summer transfer window and had to wait until January to make a splash. However, they wasted no time in doing so, as they wrote every soccer headline in Europe with the stunning purchase of former World Soccer Young Player of the Year, Robinho, from Real Madrid.
Robinho could have joined any club in the world back then, and with him opting to join the Citizens, the new owners put down a marker on European soccer as a side that were set to seriously climb the rankings very soon.
When the January window arrived, Shay Given joined from Newcastle United as their new main goalkeeper, with Craig Bellamy being their top signing on the forward lines. Nigel de Jong and Wayne Bridge also joined the club, with both of them already experienced and well-established players on the continent.
The first season under new ownership saw City finish 10th in the Premier League, as Robinho finished as the top scorer with 15 goals. Their first full season the year after, however, was a different story, as they hijacked seven players from Premier League rivals, such as Carlos Tevez from United and Joleon Lescott from Everton. This also saw new manager, Roberto Mancini, guide City to their highest-ever Premier League finish (5th), and secure Europa League football for the first time in the Premier League era.
-Grant McQuillan
Twitter: @Grant_McQuillan