Chronicle Live

Amanda Staveley is poised to make a Premier League comeback by injecting Middle East investment into Tottenham Hotspur before Christmas.

Having been instrumental alongside her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi in orchestrating the Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund's £305million acquisition of Newcastle, Staveley's association with St James' Park ended on a sour note. Nonetheless, the financier who was recently spotted at Tottenham's game against Brentford, is now engaged in serious discussions to secure a substantial shareholding at Spurs.

The search for new capital at Tottenham follows Joe Lewis' decreased involvement, the one-time dominant shareholder of the club. It's expected that Staveley and Ghodoussi will purchase a portion of Lewis shares, presently managed by a family trust.

Confidential sources have conveyed Staveley's ambitions: "Amanda is serious about being involved with Spurs, and is hoping that an initial purchase can be completed within weeks," reports the Mirror

Staveley, lest we forget, tapped the Middle East for financial muscle resulting in her success with Newcastle. However, following changes at PIF and almost three years holding significant sway in Newcastle's boardroom, the couple stepped back this summer..

Their exit was keenly felt by the Newcastle faithful, who held both in high esteem and were ardent backers of popular manager Eddie Howe. Staveley expressed deep regret over the departure, confessing: "I am devastated. The club has become part of my DNA."

Staveley, having kept her cards close to her chest on transactions earlier this summer, conceded to The Athletic that she's open to opportunities in the football industry beyond Newcastle: "My preference would have been to stay with Newcastle, but life doesn't always work out exactly how you want it to. Nothing is going to replicate that."

"I fell in love with Newcastle, the club and the people and that can't change, but I didn't want to get in Newcastle's way. It's got to be about what's best for Newcastle."

"Mehrdad and I are keen to be hands-on. We're hard-working people, I love to be very busy and to engage and I love football. Very sadly, we have to move on to other projects and that might involve us taking a stake in another club or buying another club and that's difficult. But it's possible."

Talk that Amanda Staveley is ready to make a return to the Premier League has increased after her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi was on a VIP guest list at the North London derby last weekend.

Reports in the Sun on Sunday suggest the pair have been part of investment talks at Tottenham Hotspur. A potential cash injection could be in the pipeline with Staveley understood to be assembling financial backing from the Middle East.

There have been reports of Spurs making a percentage stake in the club available with Staveley keen to return to the top-flight table after her Newcastle United exit.

Staveley’s Apollo Belvedere Services was liquidated by a London judge earlier this month. It was the company formerly known as PCP Capital Partners - who were on the books of the original consortium at Newcastle when the Saudi-backed takeover was pushed through and they helped broker the deal to end Mike Ashley's 14-year tenure on Tyneside.

Greek shipping magnate Victor Restis claimed that he was owed £10m from a loan made to Staveley's ventures in 2008. The Financial Times report: "Staveley was required to pay the tycoon about £3.5m after she lost a High Court bid in March to block a statutory demand — a formal ultimatum for payment of a debt — that Restis served on the British financier last year."

Staveley left Newcastle in July after three years on the board after a shake up at St James' Park. She said then: "I am devastated. It’s such a wonderful club, so it feels very bittersweet. It has become part of my DNA, something you love so much and don’t want to let go. It’s very painful."

Anthony Gordon was in jubilant mood after Newcastle United triumphed over Tottenham Hotspur, with him heading out to a very popular restaurant in town for curry, hours after the final whistle blew.

Having got the equaliser against Bournemouth a week earlier, Gordon was back in the Magpies starting line-up for the home game, as Eddie Howe's men aimed to condemn Spurs to another defeat, after the 6-1 of two years ago and the 4-0 win last season. Newcastle took the lead in the 37th minutes, with Harvey Barnes finding the net.

Spurs threatened to spoil a Super Sunday for NUFC fans, when a Dan Burn own goal levelled things. But Newcastle weren't done there, with the always reliable Alexander Isak securing victory with 12 minutes to go. The win over Spurs sees United's tally from their first three games of the new Premier League season to seven points out of a possible nine.

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A the league now goes on pause for the international break, with Gordon named in Lee Carsley's first England squad, the fan favourite celebrated the win with a trip to Khai Khai on the Quayside.

A favourite with famous faces, with footballers like Alan Shearer and Lauren James dining there, as well as movie legend Harrison Ford, Khai Khai, which opened during the Covid pandemic, has been singled out by notoriously hard to please chef Gordon Ramsay for serving him 'the best curry of his life'

And, having been on the shortlist for the Asian Restaurant Awards a few days earlier, staff at the Queen Street restaurant were delighted to welcome Gordon, with a photo on their Instagram story showing Anthony with a member of staff, just a week after his last visit to the much loved venue.

Gordon isn't the only Newcastle player to dine at Khai Khai in recent weeks, with now first choice right back Tino Livramento heading there before news of his call up for England.

Newcastle fans celebrated winning their first two home games in the Premier League since the 2000/01 season with a narrow 2-1 defeat of Tottenham on Sunday afternoon.

Once again, it was an electric atmosphere at St James' Park, with a Wor Flags' display paying tribute to Sandro Tonali, returning after a ten-month ban, ahead of kick off. Tonali was introduced off the bench in the 68th minute, 12 minutes after a Dan Burn own goal handed Spurs the equaliser.

Spurs were pushing for the lead but a lightning counter attack saw Jacob Murphy break free of the Tottenham defence, laying it on a plate for Alexander Isak to score the winner in the 78th minute. For the remainder of the match, chants of "EIEIEO, up the Premier League we go" rang out throughout the stadium.

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The win extends NUFC's unbeaten start to the season, and they head into the international break in fifth spot. Here are shots of fans savouring the victory taken by ChronicleLive photographer Iain Buist.

Here we go then

The players are out, Wor Flags have done their bit with a message to Sandro and we're minutes away from kick-off here.

Stick with us throughout the afternoon right here!

Confident, NUFC fans?

It's a really big day for Newcastle United, who remain unbeaten in all competitions this season but are coming into this game off the back of a deflating end to the transfer window.

As such, a nice, convincing win today is needed!

It's a bold lineup from Howe, who starts Barnes and Gordon together for the first time this season. Tonali makes the bench after his fine showing in midweek.

Big arrivals for today's game

Newcastle United supremo Yasir Al-Rumayyan has jetted in for the Magpies' clash with Tottenham Hotspur today.

After a turbulent week on Tyneside, with no major signings added to Eddie Howe's squad, the PIF chairman and Newcastle chief was keen to "show support" for board members after a tricky end to the summer trading campaign. It is understood that CEO Darren Eales and everybody at executive level has the full backing of the club's Saudi co-owners.

Fellow PIF board members Asma Rezeeq and Jacobo Solis will also be in attendance.

Fans pick their best XI

As always, we asked you to pick the Newcastle United XI you would pick for today's game . . . and there are some interesting choices in the most popular side.

Starting at right-back, fans have opted to start Trippier over Livramento, with Lewis Hall keeping his place on the left ahead of new signing Kelly. Livramento has got the nod for the previous two Premier League games, but Trippier made a difference against Bournemouth last week and started against Forest in midweek.

You can see the best XI based on what fans want to see, here.

RIP Sol Bamba

Former Leeds United and Middlesbrough defender Sol Bamba has died aged 39 after taking ill over the weekend.

Bamba had recently taken up his first head coach's role at Turkish club Adanaspor and they confirmed the news on Saturday evening that the Boro favourite had died after taking ill before a match and being transferred to a hospital.

In a statement, Adanaspor said: "Our Technical Director Souleymane Bamba, who fell ill before the Manisa Football Club match played yesterday, was taken to Manisa Celal Bayar University Hospital and unfortunately lost his battle for life there. Our condolences to his family and our community."

Bamba ended a stellar playing career at Boro after being brought to the club by Neil Warnock following his successful battle with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He had been an integral member of Warnock's promotion-winning Cardiff City side and also played for the likes of Leicester City and Hibernian.

Becoming a real fan-favourite for his warrior spirit on the pitch as well as his gentlemanly character off it, Bamba moved into coaching after his playig days ended. He returned to Cardiff as assistant manager in January 2023 before his move to Turkey this summer to take on his first head coach role.

Tottenham injuries

Spurs will be without new signing Dominic Solanke and Brazilian forward Richarlison today. Ange Postecoglou confirmed the duo would not travel, although Rodrigo Bentancur will return.

"Dom is close but we're going to be a bit cautious with him, we've got a big programme post the international break, so he'll miss out on Sunday," he said when speaking to SPURSPLAY. "The only other one we got midweek is Richarlison, who unfortunately picked up an injury in training, so he'll probably miss the next few weeks."

Early team news

Team news will landed at 12.15pm today, but here's what we know for sure. Sven Botman, Joe Willock, Callum Wilson, Fabian Schar, Lewis Miley and Jamaal Lascelles are all unavailable today, with Schar serving the final game of his three-match ban.

Sandro Tonali is added to the squad that faced Bournemouth, with Martin Dubravka also likely to return after concussion protocols ruled him out last weekend.

Newcastle United squad vs Tottenham: Pope, Dubravka, Ruddy, Vlachodimos, Trippier, Livramento, Krafth, Burn, Kelly, A Murphy, Hall, Targett, Longstaff, Guimaraes, Joelinton, Tonali, J Murphy, Almiron, Barnes, Gordon, Osula, Isak.

Welcome

Morning everyone and welcome to today's matchday live blog from St James' Park. It promises to be another cracker - there are always goals when Spurs come to Tyneside.

A repeat of the last two performances against Tottenham here will do nicely, with Newcastle winning 6-1 and 4-0, although I'm sure Ange Postecoglou will have something to say about that.

Sandro Tonali is back, of course, and could be in line to start, although Sean Longstaff will be pressing for a recall. Team news will land at 12.15pm today, with all the latest right here.

After their midweek Carabao Cup drama, Newcastle United are back on Premier League duty today when they get their first serious test of their credentials.

While Bournemouth is certainly a tough place to go, Tottenham will provide a good barometer of where Eddie Howe's squad is right now, with the transfer window firmly shut. United have enjoyed two thumping wins over Spurs at St James' Park in recent seasons, but there is little to suggest a repeat of the 6-1 and 4-0 scorelines of the last two terms.

Newcastle have struggled for rythym in the early part of the season, but will be fired up in front of another capacity ground today, with Sandro Tonali set for his first Premier League appearance since the 4-0 win over Crystal Palace on Octobner 21, 2023. Here's all you need to know.

When is Newcastle United vs Spurs?

The game takes place today, Sunday, September 1, 2024 and gets under way at 1.30pm at St James' Park. It is one of three Premier League fixtures today.

Is Newcastle United vs Spurs on TV?

Yes, this game has been selected for live TV coverage, with Sky Sports showing the match. Coverage on Sky Sports Premier League begins at 12.30pm.

How else can I follow Newcastle United vs Spurs?

We will provide live updates from St James' Park this afternoon in our matchday live blog, with all the build-up, team news, action and reaction. You can also listen to the game on BBC Radio Newcastle.

Early Newcastle United team news

Eddie Howe welcomes Sandro Tonali back to his squad for the first time in the Premier League since last October, following his start against Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup in midweek. The Italian will compete with Sean Longstaff for a starting spot, with Joe Willock ruled out with a thigh injury.

Fabian Schar serves the final game of his three-match ban so Emil Krafth will continue to deputise alongside Dan Burn at the centre of defence. Howe has a decision to make at full-back, with Kieran Trippier and Tino Livramento pressing to start, while Lewis Hall and Lloyd Kelly have so far alternated at left-back.

Up front, Harvey Barnes will be hoping to keep his place, with Anthony Gordon set to return to the starting line-up

Newcastle United vs Spurs referee

Robert Jones is the man in the middle for today's Premier League game., fresh from Europa Conference League action on Thursday night. He officiated several Newcastle games last season, with mixed results. He was in charge for the Carabao Cup and Premier League wins over Manchester Unted - plus the 3-2 defeat at Old Trafford, as well as the remarkable 4-3 win over West Ham which saw Anthony Gordon pick up a red card. He was also in charge of the 1-0 defeat to Manchester City in August 2023.

Newcastle United vs Spurs odds

Newcastle win 6/4

Draw 3/1

Spurs win 6/4

Today's Premier League fixtures

Newcastle United vs Tottenham (1.30pm)

Chelsea vs Crystal Palace (1.30pm)

Manchester United vs Liverpool (4pm)

Newcastle United will open up a new revenue stream when the club's fan zone opens on Thursday.

Newcastle CEO Darren Eales previously revealed that the Magpies were thinking of ways that the club 'can be smart to try to grow our revenue streams' and this is a prime example. The 3,000-capacity fan zone, which is a collaboration between Newcastle and STACK, will be open from 10am to midnight every day of the week as the club look to boost non-match day income.

There is a sizable gap to bridge in that respect. Spurs, for instance, have turned the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium into a thriving multi-use venue. Beyonce's five-night run last summer was the highest-grossing concert ever staged by a female artist at the time; the arena is the official home of the NFL in the UK; the stadium plays host to the world's first F1 branded electric karting experience; and the club are even building a 180-room hotel to support their conference and events business.

Spurs have since been granted planning permission so that up to 30 major non-football events can be hosted at the stadium per calendar year, including concerts, rugby matches, boxing bouts and NFL games. This will naturally lead to an increase in operating costs, but there is a huge pay-off and Spurs state that these events create 'additional recurring sources of revenue for the club to reinvest in its football activities', which is a key part of the club's financial model.

In fact, Spurs' commercial revenues from sponsorship, merchandising and other revenues such as third-party events, visitor attractions and conference and events increased to £227.7m in 2022-23. This figure helped Spurs post a club-record turnover of £549.6m and, while UEFA prize money contributed to the overall sum, chairman Daniel Levy confirmed that this had also been driven by 'increased stadium revenues from both football and non-football events and additional revenue streams'.

"This is the impact of our multi-use stadium and what our board has been focused on delivering in order to invest in our football in a financially sustainable manner," he said.

Spurs, of course, also boast the second biggest stadium in the Premier League and Newcastle are looking at 'all the options' when it comes to the future of St James' Park as supporters await the findings of the final report from the club's feasibility study.

Daniel Levy has always maintained that Spurs would look at any offers that would take the club to 'another level' - and former Newcastle United owner Amanda Staveley may be about to test that stance.

Staveley and partner Mehrdad Ghodoussi only left the club last week after selling their minority stake and CEO Darren Eales, who was previously the director of football administration at Spurs, said he was excited to see what these 'forces of nature' were going to do next. Well, Bloomberg have reported that Staveley is looking at a number of clubs, including Spurs, after raising around £500m through her investment fund and the financier has even reportedly held initial talks to buy a minority stake with Rothschild & Co, who are an adviser to the club.

Spurs have had offers from the Far East, the Middle East and the U.S. over the years, but nothing was put on the table that the board felt was in the interests of shareholders. However, that does not mean that any fresh proposals would not be considered.

"My answer has always been the same for 23 years," Levy previously told Bloomberg. "We have 30,000 shareholders who own approximately 13.5%. We run this club as if it's a public company. If anyone wants to make serious propositions to the board of Tottenham, we will consider it along with our advisers.

"If we felt it was in the interests of the club, we would be open to anything. Over the years, many people have made offers but there's never been an offer that's been [sufficient]....if someone came along and we felt they could take us to another level, we would look at it."

Spurs would find it 'incredibly hard' to build their stadium for £1.2bn today - which highlights the rise in construction costs that Newcastle United would face with any redevelopment of St James' Park.

That is according to Jonathan Turner, who is a non-executive director at Spurs, after the club started out with a £250m stadium design and plan that ended up coming in at a figure nearly five times that amount. The result? Spurs now boast the second biggest stadium in the Premier League, which is almost twice the capacity of the old White Hart Lane, and the Londoners have made the most of it. In fact, in 2022/23, Spurs brought in £117.6m in match income.

It is worth pointing out that the most affordable adult season ticket at Spurs has since risen to an eye-watering £856, but the club do offer some of the best stadium facilities in the country, including Europe's longest bar and an on-site microbrewery. A typical fan, as a result, will spend around £16 per game as opposed to just under £2 at White Hart Lane.

Spurs have also turned the stadium into a multi-use venue: Beyonce's five-night run last summer was the highest-grossing concert ever staged by a female artist at the time; the arena is the official home of the NFL in the UK and plays host to the world's first F1 branded electric karting experience; and the club are even building a 180-room hotel to support their conference and events business.

No wonder Turner said that the stadium is one of Spurs' 'central pieces' when it comes to 'competing with clubs with more capital' in a PSR world and that is the challenge Newcastle are now facing. Newcastle generated £37.9m in match income in the club's most recently published accounts and CEO Darren Eales has spoken about the need to be 'smart to try to grow our revenue streams'.

Newcastle, who are in the process of building a new seven-day-a-week fan zone, would ideally like to stay put at St James' and the Magpies have tasked world-leading architects to look at what could be possible on the complicated city centre site. Eales previously insisted that 'no conclusions' had been reached ahead of the club's full stadium feasibility report potentially being completed this summer.

It goes without saying that an expansion would be costly in today's climate - let alone a full rebuild - but Newcastle have the owners with the means to potentially bankroll such a project if it comes off whereas Spurs executive director Donna-Maria Cullen previously revealed that the Londoners did it on 'limited finances'. Turner elaborated further on that point.

"The stadium was financed through internally generated cash flow and also through debt," he told the Business of Sport. "The debt is on a very long-term basis.

"A lot of it is held by pension funds and other institutions who are comfortable holding long-term debt. The stadium was built in a low-interest rate environment. That may be lucky. We have a fixed rate on the vast majority of that. The service cost of the debt and the long-term nature of debt was an incredible financing package that would not be available today.

"It would be incredibly hard to build the stadium today for the cost that it was built....if you were going to do it today, construction costs are higher. Inflation is higher. The cost of interest is higher. It was pretty hard to do in the first place, but I think it would be a harder exercise."

After standing firm to get the deal they wanted regarding Dan Ashworth's departure to Manchester United, Newcastle United moved swiftly to confirm the appointment of Paul Mitchell as the club's new sporting director. Mitchell arrives with a strong reputation across the game, and was even a target for Man Utd at one stage having most recently worked as a sporting director at AS Monaco following a spell as technical director at Red Bull's global football division.

For football fans in this country, Mitchell will be best known for his time spent at Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur. The 42-year-old was involved in Tottenham's transfer strategy when Kieran Trippier, Dele Alli, Son Heung-min and Toby Alderweireld were brought to north London, but clashed with chairman Daniel Levy and like Ashworth, found himself on gardening leave before eventually leaving the club.

So, what can we learn from his time at Spurs and how was Mitchell viewed by the fans in North London? We spoke to Alasdair Gold from our sister title football.london, to get the lowdown on Newcastle's new man.

Ali Gold verdict on Mitchell

"Paul Mitchell's stay at Tottenham was a short and initially sweet one before it all went rather sour. Mauricio Pochettino had a close relationship with the head of recruitment at Southampton, which is why he was poached as a 33-year-old a couple of months after the Argentine's arrival in 2014.

"He would last less than two years though with transfer successes in Son Heung-min eventually and Toby Alderweireld, as well as Dele Alli, although the latter was pushed by former manager David Pleat, while Victor Wanyama was a good signing until injuries took hold of his time at Spurs.

"There were also plenty of flops like Vincent Janssen, Clinton Njie and Georges Kevin-Nkoudou, although reports when Mitchell resigned in August 106 suggested that he struggled to work with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy and that a failed move for Michy Batshuayi was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Mitchell then served six months of a 16-month notice period before being placed on gardening leave. His time at Spurs is often looked back on fondly as it coincided with Pochettino's prime years, but the transfer record on reflection was mixed. He may well suggest that is skewed because he was unable to sign the players he wanted."