When Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi owners completed their takeover in 2008, they set about building a new football club.
In the short term, player acquisitions were the driving force, but when spades went into the ground and cranes rose into the sky, the club’s ascent was accelerated and its future underpinned.
More than four years into the Saudi-led ownership of Newcastle, such foundations remain largely aspirational. That is why 2026 must be the year in which the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia signal their ambition, not by promises, but by some very public investment.