Fresh revelations concerning Saudi Arabia’s purchase of Newcastle United three years ago emerged on Monday. The fact that they appeared to confirm the direct involvement of the kingdom’s de facto leader, Mohammed bin Salman, in the takeover will have come as little surprise to anyone.
Some of the details in the leaked cache of WhatsApp messages were rather amusing. The suggestion that Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, who have been directors’ box guests of the new regime at St James’s Park, were recruited as Saudi stooges to promote the takeover, is a vignette to be met with hollow laughs.