Newcastle: ‘Heartbroken’ Amanda Staveley ‘forced out’ as PIF ‘leaks of dissatisfaction’ emerge

It has been suggested that Amanda Staveley was “forced out” of Premier League club Newcastle United after being accused of being ‘too involved’.

Staveley joined Newcastle towards the end of 2021 as she was involved in PIF’s £300m takeover of the Premier League side.

PIF purchased an 80% stake in the English side as part of this deal, while Staveley and the Reuben Brothers each had a 10% share.

Staveley was Newcastle’s director before it was announced in July 2024 that she was leaving the club.

She has since admitted that her “preference would have been to stay at Newcastle” , but she refused to rule out the prospect of “taking a stake in another club or buying another club”.

Staveley’s departure somewhat came out of the blue, but a recent report from The Daily Mail revealed the ‘truth’ on her exit. It’s claimed that things ‘started to come apart towards the end of last season’. They explained.

‘We have learnt that, when Jacobo Solis — a senior figure from the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the majority owners — asked questions over the day-to-day running of the club, Eales communicated that he could not do things as he would like because Staveley and Ghodoussi were too involved.

‘It caused a split at the very top of the club, and Staveley and Ghodoussi felt they had no option but to sell their six per cent share and go. This, it is said, left them heartbroken.’

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Finance expert Keith Wyness – who has previously had spells as CEO of Everton and Aston Villa – believes Newcastle CEO Darren Eales is coming under scrutiny as Staveley was “forced out”.

Wyness said: “This has been leaked and there are so many leaks coming out of the club after Amanda Staveley’s departure. It looks like she was basically forced out.

“The fans are watching Newcastle and Darren Eales closely because they greatly admired Amanda and how she acted in the first year or two.

“They didn’t do anything knee-jerk, they were very successful in handling that transition.

“Staveley did things in a considered way and I’ve applauded them. But now there seem to be leaks of dissatisfaction at the top.”

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Chris Sutton has explained why he thinks “problems could be on the horizon” for Newcastle.

“Eddie would have had his targets, and he’s not got them. I think that could be a problem further down the line,” Sutton said.

“Eddie has done a phenomenal job at Newcastle. I’m not privy to what goes on in the background at the club, but for him to speak as openly as he did, that would concern me if I was a Newcastle United fan.

“The club managed to hold onto Alexander Isak, Bruno and Anthony Gordon, which is important. For Newcastle to make the next step, they need to retain their best players, but they also need to strengthen. Guehi was a player who Howe felt would allow him to do that, and the club didn’t get it over the line for whatever reason. Howe has every right to feel pretty peeved about that.

“There could be problems on the horizon (between the manager and the board). Newcastle have had a reasonable start, but the performances haven’t been there, and they sort of got away with one at the weekend against Tottenham.”