Was £9m, now worth £45m: Ashley endured major NUFC howler over "world-class" magician - opinion

Newcastle United supporters have a reason to look forward to the future under PIF after the Saudi Arabian consortium splashed the cash in January to help them avoid relegation from the top-flight.

It was a sign of intent from the new owners and the Magpies can now hope that they will be able to compete higher up the food chain in the Premier League in the years to come.

The Toon faithful may be jealous of the likes of West Ham and Leicester this week as both sides secured places in European semi-finals, dreaming that their side will one day make it to one under PIF’s leadership.

English midfielder James Maddison was named Man of the Match, and scored, as the Foxes beat PSV in the Conference League quarter-finals and he is a player who could have been wearing a Newcastle shirt.

In the summer of 2018, Newcastle were one of the teams reportedly interested in signing the playmaker from Norwich.

However, Mike Ashley was unable to get a deal over the line as Leicester swooped in to snap him up, with Transfermarkt valuing him at £9m at the time.

Since joining the Foxes, he has proven himself in the Premier League and in Europe with his ability to score and create from midfield.

In 12 top-flight matches, Maddison has scored 29 goals and provided 22 assists. He also has five goals and four assists for the club in 16 outings in European competitions, which shows that he can deliver domestically and in Europe.

At the time of writing (15/04/22), Transfermarkt value him at a whopping £45m. This is a huge increase in the space of just under four years and illustrates how he has been able to fulfill the potential he showed whilst at Carrow Road in the Championship.

Although he has only been capped once by England, Gareth Southgate