Newcastle owners eyed Inter & Milan first

According to

Amanda Staveley

, the consortium that took over

also eyed Serie A sides

and

before focusing on the Premier League.

As well as Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Jamie Reuben's RB Sports & Media, Staveley's PCP Capital Partners was part of the £305million takeover of Newcastle. The PIF is the richest football club owner after having an 80 percent stake in the Tyneside club.

St James’ Park is expected to have a transformation with that wealth, but investing at Newcastle was not always a given. Staveley was initially keen on making a deal with the former owner Mike Ashley four years ago. The PIF linked with Inter and Staveley revealed that the Nerazzurri, Milan and Bordeaux were all attracting its attention.

"

We talked to Inter Milan, AC [Milan], but the problem was the structure of the league was a mess,"

Staveley told reporters.

"We looked briefly at Bordeaux. But we're not looking at Inter [anymore]."

Staveley also talked about the arrival of new coach Eddie Howe, believing him to be a “perfect fit” notwithstanding their prior interest in Unai Emery, who chose to remain put at Villarreal.

"

We had to do a full search of the marketplace to find the perfect fit, and Eddie is the perfect fit,"

she said.

"We couldn't have imagined bringing in a better manager."

Howe was quizzed about being the second choice for the club but he seemed to have no problem with that.

"

Obviously my life is affected by those decisions,"

he said.

"They were out of my hands. I just let the process happen.

"I was reading stuff in the media to see where things were going to go. Naturally, I was delighted and so pleased when things turned to me.

"I was obviously desperate for the opportunity here. What will be, will be. If you can't control it, I don't see the point in expending energy towards it. Now I am here, I can put all my energy into it."

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