NEWCASTLE UNITED co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi are set to leave the club, with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) increasing its stake in the Magpies.

Staveley and Ghodoussi were central figures in the successful buyout of former owner Mike Ashley in 2021, having assembled a consortium that also featured the PIF and the Reuben family.

The pair initially acquired a ten per stake in the club, with the PIF owning 80 per cent and the remaining ten per cent belonging to the Reubens.

However, as time has progressed, so their shareholding has diminished, with their ownership level being diluted by the extra funds that the PIF and Reubens pumped into the club.

Staveley and Ghodoussi are now understood to have sold all their remaining shares, meaning they will no longer be directors and will leave the club.

The PIF will own 86 per cent of Newcastle’s shares, with the Reuben family responsible for the remaining 14 per cent.

Newcastle’s current chief executive, Darren Eales, will remain in his existing position, with Paul Mitchell having been appointed as the club’s new sporting director last week.

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None of the parties involved have commented on the reported change in ownership structure, but Staveley and Ghodoussi are expected to formally leave their positions as co-owners and directors before the start of the new Premier League season next month.

Staveley was removed from a directorial position on a number of Newcastle-related companies at Companies House earlier this year, but at the time, the North Yorkshire financier denied that meant she would be leaving the club.

Speaking at the time, she said: “Just arrived back from Saudi and noticed a lot of messages from fans concerned that I had stepped down from my role as a director of Newcastle United. I have not – the changes made last week were purely administrative to non-trading subsidiaries.”