Newcastle: Pundit discusses targeting 'big name players'
Newcastle United will challenge for both the Premier League title and the Champions League once their takeover is complete, says former Magpies striker Demba Ba. Current Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is close to selling the club after agreeing a £300million deal with the Saudi Arabian-backed PCP Capital Partners earlier this month.
Newcastle United news: Demba Ba says his former side can challenge for the Champions League (Image: GETTY/SKY SPORTS)
"I have spent a very great time there and if this goes through it's going to be another top team.
"I'm not going to say top club because Newcastle is already a top club, but it's going to be another top team, fighting for the title, fighting for the Champions League, and it's going to be only great for the Premier League and for Newcastle also.
"They will challenge [for the Champions League].
"It does not mean they will win because we have seen for example a team like [Manchester] City, who have been challenging for a decade now for the Champions League.
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"It's not an easy competition and just money does not give you any guarantee.
"If money would give you guarantee then for sure City would have had a couple of (titles), and other clubs also would have had more - Paris (Saint-Germain) would also have one."
Meanwhile, European football expert Gabriele Marcotti has warned Newcastle fans not to expect an influx of big-money signings after the takeover due to Financial Fair Play.
Marcotti said on the Gab and Juls podcast: "One other point that should be made clear to everybody, because some people are saying 'oh look, we're now being owned by somebody that's wealthier than all the Premier League owners put together' and whatever - Financial Fair Play still exists, both the Premier League version and of course should Newcastle get further, the Champions League version.
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Newcastle United news: Mike Ashley is close to selling Newcastle (Image: GETTY)
"So anybody that thinks that they're going to go on the kind of spending spree that Manchester City went on or that Chelsea went on or whatever [happened] historically in the past, that isn't going to happen.
"They're going to have to come up with creative ways to take the club forward and it's not just going to be throwing money at things."