It's weird, that Saudi backing just isn't filling the credibility gap between Newcastle and the global elite in the way that felt seamless for Man City who, how easily we forget, were once a byword for "shitty Northern banter club".
PSR is a big factor certainly, the early years of the Sheikhs at City they just lit money on fire in stupid deal after stupid deal, but the Saudis aren't even spending up to the ceiling and with this Isak thing it's obvious that they don't even have the full belief within their own building.
It's hard to build a winner and even with all their riches it's in some ways not that weird to see them struggling. What I find really inexplicable though is the seeming lack of sense of urgency.