Premier League not moved by recent reports around leaked messages regarding Newcastle takeover

It was all starting to feel a bit 2021 again over the weekend as reports came out in the media about leaked WhatsApp messages that proved Mohammed Bin Salman had been involved in the PIF's takeover of Newcastle United.

Part of the deal to push through the takeover by the Premier League was that Newcastle United had to prove separation between the PIF and the state of Saudi Arabia, something which the club did to the satisfaction of the Premier League before the takeover was announced.

Despite that, there have been several attempts by the media to dig up things to suggest that the takeover wasn't all above board.

So far nobody has been able to give any reasonable evidence to suggest that there was any reason that the PIF's takeover of Newcastle United should not have gone through.

Getty Images

Mohammed Bin Salman had been involved in the 2021 Takeover of Newcastle United

A report in The Telegraph on Sunday referred to WhatsApp messages leaked from Amanda Staveley's phone that proved Mohammed Bin Salman had indeed influenced the takeover process with texts that suggesting he was losing patience with the amount of time it was taking to get done.

However, as it turns out, the Premier League were already aware that Bin Salman had been involved with the takeover process, but they were satisfied that he had not interfered with the Owners and Directors test which was the key issue.

As such, the Premier League will not be going over old ground and will take no action on the latest reports according to The Shields Gazette.

The day Newcastle win a trophy is going to set some journalists off

This is likely to be the type of thing that's going to resurface again and again as people will try anything to connect the dots between Newcastle United and anything negative that may happen in or as a result of Saudi rule.

It's the sad reality of the fact that Newcastle are now connected to that regime whether we like it or not. Perhaps not as connected as some in the media would like to paint us as, but still connected enough that we will constantly be under a microscope.

The day the club starts winning things, expect this level of petty dirt digging to intensify too. There are a few journalists out there that will do anything to see us fail, or at least try to take the shine off the apple.

As long as the club can continue to prove there's a separation we have nothing to worry about as a club. The rest is just down to our own personal moral compass, but as fans so often say - support the team not the regime. It's not like we were all queuing outside of Sports Direct every morning under Mike Ashley is it?