Four years into the PIF-backed Newcastle United project, and it’s mostly been a resounding success so far.

Appointing Eddie Howe, attracting world-class players, two Champions League campaigns and winning silverware: for a club that seemed certain to be relegated four years ago, we’ve come immeasurably far since then.

But in terms of reaching that ‘elite’ status that the ownership wants to achieve, we’re still quite far away from competing both financially and consistently as the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea in the Premier League.

This could be about to change, however, as plans are reportedly in place for us to make one of the most seismic developments in the club’s history become a reality later this year…

Multi-club plan coming soon

Newcastle look set to launch a multi-club system this summer after years of discussions and planning.

You only have to look at the success and benefits that the City Football Group and BlueCo collection of clubs to see just how impactful having a multi-club-model can have in terms of player development and building up international appeal.

Writing on X, insider The Secret Scout noted that the ‘huge’ project would require a massive recruitment operation, which may have convinced head of youth recruitment Paul Midgley to reject Man Utd and stay on Tyneside

Boosting our international presence has been something we’ve wanted to do since day one of the takeover: take our global pre-season and post-season tours in America, Asia and Australia have taken place, and Steve Nickson looks to have been hard at work establishing scouting networks in South America.

Where are we looking?

Much like a new stadium and revamped training ground, establishing a multi-club-system looks to have been a top priority for the decision makers for years now.

In an interview back in 2024, then-director Amanda Staveley revealed the efforts we were making to research the best clubs to partner with.

“We’ve looked at Belgium, we’ve looked at European markets, we’ve looked in Asia, Australia, we’ve looked in Brazil – pretty much everything.

“We’ve looked at every market and getting players through our academy system and through that multi-club model would be very helpful in terms of allowing us to buy and have players as part of our journey earlier on.”

The search into Belgium likely refers to the reports that we were interested in partnering with KV Oostende, buying the club for around £10m after their relegation from the Belgian top flight, but this unfortunately never came to fruition.

Logically, the first place we should be looking to venture into would be France, where the aforementioned Strasbourg and CFG side Troyes have given Chelsea and Manchester City some top talent as well as being a hub for developing their young stars.