Newcastle United chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan was back at St James’ Park to witness the club’s historic 4-1 Champions League win over Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night.
The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund governor watched on from the stands as Miguel Almiron, Dan Burn, Sean Longstaff and Fabian Schar scored to leave the Qatari-owned Ligue 1 champions stunned.
It was Al-Rumaayan’s first public visit to a Newcastle match since the club secured Champions Leaguefootball with a draw against Leicester City back in May. He is currently in the United Kingdom as part of his role as chairman at LIV Golf, attending the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St. Andrews following the game.
And Magpies head coach Eddie Howe had ‘very brief’ meeting with the chairman at St James’ Park following the win.
“I did [speak to Al-Rumayyan], very briefly, because I was in the middle of my press conference,” Howe explained. “We had a couple of minutes together and it was short and sweet.
“There were words of encouragement, from both sides. From him to me, and me to him. It’s always great to see him, we love it when he comes to watch us play.”
Al-Rumayyan’s mission statement at Newcastle, as emphasised in the ‘We Are Newcastle United’ documentary is to become the ‘number one’ club team in the world. But Howe was keen to stress that no explicit targets had been set for him this season.
“We haven’t had a meeting together for some time,” added the Newcastle boss. “This season is different because of the amount of games.
“But I’m sure there are decisions and meetings going on that I’m not aware of. The aim is to be the best we can be, as quickly as we can be.
“But I’ve not been set any targets. The target is to maximise and get everything I can out of the squad. That’s the message, really.”
Newcastle reached the Carabao Cup final and qualified for the Champions League last season. This season, they will be looking to progress into the knockout stages of the Champions League while also remaining competitive around the European places in the Premier League.
There is also the quite clear task of ending a 55-year trophy drought.
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