Newcastle victory would be a serious marker for PIF project

What will worry City is the pace of change in the North East of England and the money available to spend there.

FAST PACED CHANGES: Changes in Newcastle are happening at a fast pace - the club has money to spend but doing so wisely. Pic: James Warwick

Newcastle United’s owners have the perfect role models to analyse when they arrive in the east of Manchester on Saturday, aiming to learn from the success of Sheikh Mansour at Manchester City and perhaps believing they can emulate it. 

But if they are going to do so, they’ll need to move extremely quickly.