Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley claims Steve Bruce ‘didn’t even want to come in to work’ ahead of the club’s £305m Saudi-backed takeover in 2021

Amanda Staveley has claimed Steve Bruce “didn’t even want to work” when his Saudi-backed consortium completed its takeover of Newcastle United.

The new ownership group formed by Staveley’s PCP Capital, RB Sports & Media led by Jamie Reuben and Saudi Arabia’s public wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), bought the club from Sports Direct chief executive Mike Ashley , in October 2021.

Under their new owners, Newcastle were quick to make changes, with one of their first orders of business being the sacking of Bruce, who had been managing the Magpies since 19 July.

The former Manchester United captain was only in charge of one game at the start of the new regime, overseeing a 3-2 defeat to Tottenham at St James’ Park before being paid £8million and replaced by the current manager. in chief Eddie Howe.

But Staveley has suggested that Bruce had been reluctant to work in the run-up to the controversial takeover, which took place when the club was languishing in 19th place in the Premier League table.

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“There had to be a dramatic change because the club had been run in a very different format,” Staveley said in comments made at the Bloomberg Power Players Summit in Jeddah.

“We had little commercial income, we had an aging team, an angry fan base and a coach who basically didn’t even want to come to work.

“We had to inject life into it.”

Mail Sport has contacted Bruce for comment.

Since the day of the takeover, there had been speculation that the new owners were keen to move on from Bruce as soon as possible, and when asked if he thought his role would be affected by the influx of state funds from the Gulf, the Newcastle fan his childhood. He had been clear about his prospects.

“I want to continue, I would like the opportunity to show the new owners what I can do, but you have to be realistic and they may want a new manager to throw things in for them,” Bruce said on the day of the takeover.

‘New owners usually want a new manager. I’ve been here long enough to understand that.

‘That decision is not up to me. I accept that and will accept whatever comes my way. I have to wait to have those conversations with people when the time is right.

“If I don’t reach 1,000 games against Spurs, you could say that could only happen to me, but I don’t think that’s cruel. It’s just football.”

Just 13 days later, Bruce left by mutual consent and Howe then guided the team out of the relegation places to finish their first campaign in 11th place.

Staveley, who is a strong supporter of Saudi Arabia’s sports investment projects, also shared her desire to see a Saudi Pro League team join Europe’s flagship competition, the Champions League, in the near future.

“I’m pretty sure there will be a Saudi club in the Champions League soon,” Staveley continued.

“Knowing Saudi Arabia, I don’t think it will take long.”