Newcastle owners line up ex-Liverpool transfer guru to lead recruitment drive

The new owners are already planning for how they can turn around the fortunes of Newcastle in the immediate future

Newcastle United are looking to appoint experienced recruitment specialist Frank McParland to help with the first phase of steering the club away from the relegation zone. On Thursday, Newcastle became one of the richest clubs in the world when they were taken over by Saudi-led investment fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), in a £305 million deal. This brought an end to Mike Ashley's time as the club's owner, with the PIF now owning 80% of the. They are thought to have an estimated worth of around £300 billion. For context, this is about 10 times the wealth of Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour. The consortium was led by Amanda Staveley, who will take care of the daily running of the club, and it is believed she looks set to turn to McParland to help turn around the club's fortunes. The Magpies currently sit in the Premier League relegation zone, and are yet to win in the league this season. The most pressing issue then, is making sure they stay up this season. https://twitter.com/CraigHope_DM/status/1446410970029514758 McParland has a wealth of experience to his name, having previously worked at Liverpool, Watford, Brentford, Burnley and Rangers. He also has a close relationship with former Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez. It was at Liverpool where McParland made his name, acting as the club's chief scout from 2003 to 2007 before then taking on the role as academy director from 2009 to 2013. His most recent role was at Nottingham Forest, where he was the club's director of football in 2017. Related links:

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During McParland's time at the Reds, he oversaw the signings of the likes of Xabi Alonso, Peter Crouch, Pepe Reina and Dirk Kuyt, and was of course at the club during their Champions League triumph in 2005. The new Newcastle owners are well aware that a careful approach is required in the early days of their time at Newcastle though and are realistics that turning the club into title challengers will not be happening overnight. It is not clear whether McParland is a long-term appointment or not at this stage, but his instructions will surely be clear - get the club out of the drop zone.