Newcastle v PSG: A saga of Gulf ambition, rich local talent pool and European dreams

The venerable French sports newspaper, L’Equipe, are calling it the ‘Golfico’, a slightly awkward melding of the word for ‘Gulf’ and the term ‘classico’. Newcastle United versus Paris Saint-Germain is certainly a clash of aspiring heavyweights and a fixture that, given a Champions League context by the transformative effect on the two clubs of Gulf investment, might yet become a European classic.

But it is a little too simple to style the Group F encounter at St James’ Park as Qatar, principal source of the funds that have made PSG such a star–magnet over the 12 years, against Saudi Arabia, whose Public Investment Fund, PIF, took a majority stake in Newcastle two years ago. These are clubs with long histories of at least flirting with the idea of a sustained place at the sport’s European summit, with vast fanbases and deep roots in their communities.

Newcastle’s tall defender Dan Burn still counts himself as part of the fanbase. Fellow supporters have a special fondness for him and how ably he has straddled the frontier that separates the struggling Newcastle, as they were before the PIF-led takeover of October 2021, and the well-resourced, bigger-spending institution of the period since. Burn was one of the first signings enabled by ambitious new owners.

If he was far from the most eye-catching recruit, he was a pathfinder for illustrious newcomers, like Alexander Isak, Sven Botman, Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali, imports from the Spanish, French and Italian leagues and part of a €200m-plus strengthening of the squad.

Burn, born in Blyth, a coastal town just outside Newcastle, can tell them what the club means to its followers, or how exciting it seemed to him, as a 10 year-old fan, to watch Newcastle beating