Saudi Pro League players Newcastle could sign in January to deal with dire injury woes
Newcastle are now free to sign players on loan from clubs owned by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) in January following a Premier League club vote.
The Premier League was defeated in its bid to stop loans between associated party clubs.
It was designed to prevent teams like Newcastle sign players from PIF clubs, following links to Al Hilal’s Ruben Neves.
It needed 14 out of the 20 clubs to vote in favour of the ban, but fell one short with just 13.
It was designed as a temporary measure to stop any moves in the winter transfer window, before a more permanent solution was found in the summer.
Newcastle, Manchester City, Chelsea, Sheffield United, Everton, Wolves, Nottingham Forest and Burnley voted against the ban.
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It now means teams like Newcastle, whose owners have multiple clubs, can freely sign players on loan from then.
PIF took over four leading Saudi Pro League clubs in June - Al Nassr, Al Hilal, Al Ahli and Al Ittihad.
The January transfer window is something that Eddie Howe will keenly be looking at, given the dire injury problems the club have been suffering.
Should they get through their Champions League group, then that depth will be vital for the remainder of the season.
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Here are the players that could be signed by Newcastle in January.
Ruben Neves (Al Hilal)
The 26-year-old swapped Premier League club Wolves for the Saudi Pro League in the summer.
Neves has been linked following Sandro Tonali’s 10-month ban for betting.
The Portugal international has already played 177 times in the Premier League and previously been linked to the likes of Arsenal.
Riyad Mahrez (Al Ahli)
The winger might be 32 now, but has vast Premier League experience having won five titles for Leicester and Man City.
He left City in the summer having captured the treble and scored 78 goals in 236 games for the club.
For Al Ahli, he has six goals in 14 games so far this season. His competition would be Miguel Almiron on the right.
Almiron picked up a small hamstring injury just before the international break that should not keep him out long, but for cover for the season half of the season Mahrez could be an option.
Sadio Mane (Al Nassr)
The 31-year-old was a Ballon d’Or runner-up in 2022 before he joined Al Nassr in August, to join a glut of former Liverpool players heading to Saudi.
He was a fan favourite at Liverpool where he won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup.
Mane spent one season at Bayern Munich, where he was involved in a well-publicised bust up with Leroy Sane, before heading to Al Nassr.
Newcastle are thin on the left with Harvey Barnes out injured, leaving Anthony Gordon to start week in, week out.
Aymeric Laporte (Al Nassr)
Newcastle have had plenty of injuries to contend with in defence this season, and that's a problem Howe will want to address in January.
Sven Botman (knee), Dan Burn (back), and Matt Targett (hamstring) are all currently out.
One player in a PIF-backed club that may interest the Magpies is Laporte.
The centre-back headed to Saudi in the summer to join Al Nassr from Man City.
Aleksandar Mitrovic (Al Hilal)
Newcastle already have two strong strikers in Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson.
However, both have spent spells out injured this season and loan cover could be useful for Howe.
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Mitrovic would be a name that immediately stands out, given his Premier League experience, including three seasons with the Magpies.
The 29-year-old scored 14 league goals for Fulham last season, before forcing a move to the Saudi club.
