Andros Townsend believes Newcastle United could become the “biggest club in the Premier League” if we are bought out by wealthy and ambitious owners.
Our former winger’s comments come as the club are in the midst of an ongoing legal battle with the top flight to approve the Saudi takeover – which was blocked last summer.
Arbitration proceedings continue to linger in the background and if Newcastle were to pull off a colossal victory over the Premier League, our clubs fortunes would no doubt be changed forever.
Here is what Townsend, currently at Crystal Palace, told ITV’s Football Podcast:
“If I came up with the money that Manchester United, Liverpool or Manchester City own and I put in a structure that was as good as theirs, how big could Newcastle be?
“The biggest club in the Premier League, they could be.
“If not, even more than that because they’ve got the stadium, the pitch is massive – it’s incredible. They’ve got the fanbase, the stadium is in the city centre.
“It’s all set up for them to be a massive club but unfortunately, at the minute, they’re not quite getting it right on the pitch.”
Townsend’s comments may seem a bit far fetched; after all, it would take a few generations to surpass Liverpool or Man Utd’s trophy haul, but the general point of our club becoming huge still stands strong.
Our global recognition and standing in English football has diminished severely since Mike Ashley bought the club. We have fallen from European regulars to a club on the verge of being known as a yo-yo team – the blame for that lies solely at one man’s door.
Nonetheless, It is good to see a former player acknowledge the sleeping giant that the consortium believes we are. If this legal battle went our way, we could go on to become a bit of a nuisance in English football, becoming the next club to unsettle the ‘big six’.
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