The mind boggles when I see articles like this:
A Saudi Arabian takeover of Newcastle United is close to being agreed and could be approved within 24 hours.
www.bbc.co.uk
Particularly this bit:
"Many fans want current owner Mike Ashley to leave the club after a 14-year reign, which they believe has been plagued by a lack of investment and ambition".
So, I've just had a look on Soccerbase and this is what they've spent on transfers in his 14 year reign:
21/22 - £25m (1 transfer) so far
20/21 - £20m (1) plus 2 frees, 1 undisclosed
19/20 - £21m (2) plus 3 frees
18/19 - £70m (4) plus 1 free, 1 undisc
17/18 - £35.25m (5) plus 2 free, 1 undis
16/17 - £2.6m (1) plus 7 undisc
15/16 - £103.4m (10) plus 1 free, 2 undisc
14/15 - £17m (4) plus 1 free, 1 undisc
13/14 - £0 - 1 undisc
12/13 - £17.9m (6) plus 3 undisc
11/12 - £18.8m (3) plus 3 free, 2 undisc
10/11 - £5.5m (2) plus 4 free
9/10 - £750k (1) plus 1 free, 5 undisc
8/9 - £17.3m (4) plus 1 free, 3 undisc
Total spend - £354.5 plus 27 undisclosed fees
In the same time frame, they brought in fees of £310m. A net +£44m invested but as time has gone on, their running costs/wages will have increased so to have invested ALL they've received and £44m more (plus what they would've paid for the undiscloseds) - they're living in cloud cuckoo land.