Newcastle: Eddie Howe confident 'ambitious' Saudi backers PIF remain committed to club after 'challenging conversations'

Eddie Howe is convinced Newcastle’s Saudi backers remain firmly behind the club’s efforts to establish itself as one of the best in the world after "challenging conversations" with the owners this week.

The 48-year-old head coach emerged from a review of a disappointing season at Matfen Hall on Thursday believing that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), which holds an 85 per cent stake in the club, are still committed to the ambitious vision set out when they took control in October 2021.

His "constructive" discussions with Yasir Al-Rumayyan - chairman of both Newcastle and PIF - came as the Saudis announced their decision to stop funding LIV Golf, into which they have ploughed more than $5bn (£3.7bn), at the end of the 2026 season.

Asked if he had been given any assurances about PIF's future financial support, Howe said: "No, and I didn't seek any either.

"But I'd say that what came through was the determination to succeed and to continue to grow the club in every aspect.

"The desire is unchanged, to try and get to the top of the Premier League, to try and win as many trophies consistently as possible. I don't think while PIF are, our owners, or part owners, majority owners that will change. They are very ambitious for the football club.

"A lot of things they need to do to elevate the club will take a bit of time. We are going back to the stadium, the training ground, these things don't happen with the click of fingers because everything of course is interlinked to income.

"As much as everyone wants to fast forward that, sometimes these things, to get it right, take a bit of time."

On meeting the club's owners, he added: "There was challenging conversations, challenging questions, but that's all part of it.

"Those meetings, I've had that every year, regardless of our league position, where you'll be challenged and probed on certain decisions that you've made, how we've ended up in certain scenarios, and then you explain the process behind it.

"This year, of course, slightly more difficult questions because of our league position, there's no getting away from that. But the process behind it was exactly the same as it has been every year.

"It's always constructive because they clearly care so much about the football club, the long-term planning that's clearly going on, on a number of levels.

"It's very exciting times ahead for the club, regardless of what happens short-term. The long-term vision is clearly there."

Howe has twice guided the club into the Champions League and ended Newcastle's 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy during his four and a half years on Tyneside, but admits this season's league form has not been good enough and that was reflected during Thursday's talks.

Howe's own future has been a topic of intense debate in recent weeks following a run of nine defeats in 12 Premier League games which has left Newcastle in 14th place in the table, eight points shy of European qualification, but separated from the relegation zone by the same margin.

While he knows a continuation of that run - they face Brighton at St James' Park on Saturday - could prove problematic for him, he insists he remains fully focused on taking the club forward.

He said: "I've never needed clarity in my head [on the future], in the sense that I'm here, I'm working and I'm committed. A football club has to do what a football club has to do.

"The football club needs to see we are going in the right direction and there's a positive feeling and fighting on all fronts. You can talk as much as you want but the proof is in how the team performs. I'm under no illusions that needs to be positive.

"I don't need reinvigorating. I'm invigorated. My motivation levels are really high.

"I think you learn a lot from these moments we are in. I'm learning a lot currently. Difficult runs force you to really revaluate everything and improve. Sometimes in the most disappointing moments are the times when you improve the most."

"I have to retain that confidence [that I'll be here next season]. It's doesn't serve anybody, not to have that long-term vision. But we need to win games.

"I feel there's unity within the football club. But in my position, I'm under no illusion, I have to get results - to keep that feeling and that trust. It's a responsibility that comes with the job."

Midfielder Joelinton is available after serving a two-match ban, while Anthony Gordon could return from a hip flexor injury.