There seems to be more and more money flooding into the Premier League, and a lot of it is coming from the same part of the world.
The bid from Qatar's Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani for Manchester United seems to be getting closer and closer to success, meaning there would be three Middle Eastern state-backed clubs competing at the top of the Premier League.
One of those clubs is Newcastle United, who have enjoyed an immediate change in their fortunes thanks to its sale to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.
They reached the Carabao Cup final last season, qualified for the Champions League and are being linked with players they could only dreamed of signing previously.
Manchester City have certainly made the most of a similar ownership, proving their elite status with a 2022/23 treble. Money talks in football and while it does not guarantee success, it certainly helps.
Cash on this scale in football rarely comes without strings attached, however, with sports-washing from countries with poor human rights records becoming more prevalent in the modern game.
How much are Man Utd's potential Qatari owners worth?
It was reported by Reuters on Thursday that Manchester United are granting exclusivity to the consortium led by Qatar's Sheikh Jassim. The talks are centred around buying the football club for around $6bn. It should be said, Simon Stone at the BBC later tweeted that there is no exclusivity being granted to the Qatari and he is under the impression that talks will continue with multiple parties.
This news basically suggests the Qatari bid is much closer to making the breakthrough with the Glazers than the proposal from Sir Jim Ratcliffe, which has lost its popularity with much of the Man Utd fanbase. His bid would not fully end Glazer involvement in the club, whereas Sheikh Jassim wants to acquire the club in its entirety, which you may have seen referred to on social media as a 'full sale'.
The net worth of Sheikh Jassim as an individual is not clear, but he is the chairman of the Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) and part of the Qatari royal family. They are worth around £275bn and Forbes have claimed Jassim himself is worth just over £1bn.
That is why a $6bn purchase of Man Utd is not too difficult an undertaking and would not require loans from independent banks or the creation of debt.
The other big piece of news in regard to the Qatar bid on Thursday was that Sheikh Jassim's business, Nine Two, was registered in the UK. Fans believe this to be further proof that a deal is about to be struck.
How much are Newcastle's owners worth?
Newcastle are owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) which acquired an 80% stake in the club almost two years ago. The chairman of PIF is the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and PIF is their national wealth fund.
Business Insider believes the Saudi Arabian royal family as a whole is worth up to £1.1tn, which in other terms is £1,100bn. PIF itself was valued at around £315bn by Sky Sports when the takeover first happened.
Therefore, it seems Newcastle have got the most worth behind them right now and that will not change if Qatar nationals manage to buy Man Utd. That being said, when the figures get into this realm, those extra few billion seem inconsequential.
Manchester United is a more profitable entity than Newcastle United and Sheikh Jassim would have to pump less of his own money into the club to put it on top than PIF will have to with Newcastle.
READ MORE ON THE SALE OF MANCHESTER UNITED AND THEIR POTENTIAL OWNERS
This article was originally published on 90min as Manchester United potential new owners' net worth compared to Newcastle.
