Rob Lee has revealed the three key things that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium must fix if they complete their proposed takeover of Newcastle United.

Speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern, the Tyneside club legend outlined the massive overhaul that is needed in the North East, highlighting specifically the quality of players on the pitch, the set up at youth level as well as the improvements needed at the club's training ground

"The club needs a huge overhaul, not just from the playing side of things, which obviously needs a lot of money spent on it.

"Chelsea just spent £200 million and we spent £35 million on two players or two free transfers, is that enough to push you forward? No.

"It's probably enough to keep us staying where we are and not get dragged into a relegation fight.

"But it's also that the youth set-up, the training ground is nowhere near what the new training grounds are now. Liverpool just moved into a fantastic training ground, that’s the way they’re going, and Newcastle is way out again, it’s way off it. The club, from top to bottom, needs a complete overhaul."

Takeover would enable Newcastle to compete financially

The prospective £300m deal between Mike Ashley and the KSA group would allow the Magpies to compete financially with the likes of the so-called 'big six' in Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Spurs, which means that they could potentially attract better players than those who Steve Bruce currently has at his disposal at the moment.

There was even reported talk of a possible move for Cristiano Ronaldo if the bid were to be approved by the Premier League, which would be a big statement signing given his pedigree in the beautiful game.

Takeover would help with youth and training improvements

The takeover, as Lee suggests, could also help with the youth set up and improve the training grounds, which could lead to the Toon developing more their own stars in addition to buying them, which could make NUFC a real force in the years to come.

In other news, find out what concerns Lee has expressed with the KSA takeover here!