Newcastle 'can spend what they want' but club warned big stars won't join in hurry

The end of the Mike Ashley era brought celebrations and controversy in equal measure as the Magpies' new owners targeted trophies while human rights groups accused them of 'sportswashing' human rights abuses.

A host of huge names have been tipped to join the north east club, who are now comfortably the richest club in the world, with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund worth an estimated £320bn.

And while former Crystal Palace owner Jordan, speaking on his show with Jim White on Friday, is in no doubt that they can splash the cash, but warned some big names may not be convinced by a move to St James' Park.

He said: "They can spend what they want, they haven't got losses and in the Premier League you have to carry £105million worth of losses over five years - Newcastle have been profitably for as long as Mike Ashley can remember.

"They won't find themselves in a loss position for some time and if they go and buy say £500m worth of players, those players would appreciate £100m-a-year.

"If they build that club and their revenue goes up over time and they have also got gains, they have got a real run at spending money if they want to.

Speaking about the direction they will need to take going forward, Jordan added: "The most recent blueprint is Manchester City. They came out of a gate in 2008 and started with Sven Goran Eriksson, then with Mark Hughes and then they started to ramp the narrative up by moving into [Roberto] Mancini territory, an elite manager, and up and onward from there.

"The battle that Newcastle will have to have is initially it's going to take a period if time the enormous wealth that they have behind them and the desire for people to come and play for Newcastle.

"Newcastle isn't a draw right now, it's a draw because of the perception that they have lots of money.

"That will take time to land in the market place, it'll take time to attract players.

"Who are they going to buy in January? All they're going to do is get b-rated players in January because those players that are potentially available to them are signed to big clubs.

Meanwhile, Amanda Staveley, the businesswoman who steered the takeover over the lines, revealed she is looking to take a very 'hands on' role at the club.

Asked about her role, she said: "I'll be very hands-on, very hands-on.

"I won't be picking football players, but I will be very hands-on on the commercial side, on running the club, on making sure that we deliver a business plan and a strategy that helps drive the commercial revenues that allow us to invest in players.

"My team will be based at St James' and I will be here a lot."