Chelsea, PSG to Newcastle United – Which are some of the high-profile takeovers of major clubs in the 21st century?

Premier League side Newcastle United made the headlines this week as they saw a change in the club’s ownership from Mike Ashley to Saudi-led group Public Investment fund (PIF), PCP Capital Partners and RB Sports & Media. 

The Saudi Arabian firm-led consortium completed the takeover of the Magpies for a sum of £300m on October 7 from British billionaire Mike Ashley who was the club’s majority owner since 2007. PIF will now own a 80 per cent stake at the club after the deal received a green signal from the Premier League. The other 20 per cent stake will be held by PCP Capital Partners and RB Sports & Media.

This will be the first big money takeover of a club since Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke completed a full takeover of the Gunners in 2018. Kroenke was involved at Arsenal since 2007 had bought a 9.9 per cent stake at the club initially and then increased that share to 63% in 2011 before assuming full control in 2018.

The first major takeover of a Premier League club in the 21st century was that of Chelsea FC when Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the club for £140m in 2003. Abramovich not just cleared the club’s debts but also pumped in enough money into the club which would help them win back-to-back Premier Leagues from 2004 to 2006. The Blues have won five Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues in the Abramovich era so far.

After Chelsea, the club that made the most noise with their takeover were Manchester City in 2008 by UAE’s Abu Dhabi United Group headed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan a member of the Abu Dhabi Royal family. The Manchester City owners later formed a new company named City Football Group (CFG) in 2013 who are the current owners of the club.

Since the change in ownership in 2008, Manchester City’s fortunes have changed overnight. During the CFG era, the club has won five Premier League titles.

Outside the Premier League, the most talked-about ownership change is that of Ligue side Paris Saint-Germain. The French club was bought by Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) group which is presided over by Qatari businessman Nasser Al Khelaifi. With QSI’s arrival, PSG saw a massive influx of top footballers like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani and Thiago Silva over the years. PSG made the headlines in 2017 when the broke the transfer record by signing Neymar from FC Barcelona for a world record fee of €222 million.

But the biggest signing so far in the club’s history was made in August 2021 when FC Barcelona legend Lionel Messi left the club to join the Ligue 1 side on a free transfer. In the same window, they also got hold of some of the top names like Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Georginio Wijnaldum and Achraf Hakimi.