Richard Keys at it again with Newcastle United - Claims Saudi PIF are looking to sell

Here we go. Not content with rumours around our manager and our star players, fires are emerging around Newcastle United ownership now.

It has been a tough season for Newcastle United. Nothing has really gone according to plan. There have been no trips to Wembley, the likelihood of qualifying for European competitions is decreasing weekly, and some of the results and performances have been poor to say the least.

It has caused a lot of questions to be raised, particularly about whether Eddie Howe is the right man for the job going forward, and how the club is going to keep hold of its top stars this summer.

Beyond that, the ownership has managed to avoid any real scrutiny, despite the PIF seemingly dragging its feet when it comes to some major decisions around the club.

There's no end in sight to the great stadium debate, and even the new training ground, which, very recently, sounded like it was close to an announcement, has gone very quiet.

Richard Keys believes Newcastle is on the market

Well, according to Richard Keys, there's a good reason for that. The former Sky Sports host has taken to his blog to relay some whispers he's heard while working out in the Middle East.

"Another whisper I picked up recently - and I don’t think this will come as a surprise to anybody - I’m told the Saudi’s are looking to sell Newcastle.

"Regulars know I’ve been saying for some time the project was over.

"Apparently there are interested parties, but the Saud’s want £1b. £500m is nearer the mark."

The problem is, it's an easily believable lie. The lack of activity from the Saudi side of the club has often been seen as a lack of interest from outsiders.

Would the PIF abandon a project just five years in?

Whenever a journalist, usually Craig Hope, asks the question about the PIF's commitment to the project, though, he's never found anything but confirmation that Newcastle remains an important part of their portfolio, as David Hopkinson stressed in an interview earlier this year.

PIF were never meant to be hands-on. They're just the money men. They employ people to make the decisions at Newcastle, that's what Hopkinson is paid so handsomely to do.

We highly doubt that the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia made its mega money by pulling out of investments at the first sign of trouble. Okay, so restrictions like PSR and rules around Associated Party Transactions have blocked Newcastle from having a meteoric rise, but we don't believe for one second that the PIF are ready to throw in the towel after less than five years.