Newcastle United's latest Companies House update is a 'clever' move from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.
That is the view of football finance expert Kieran Maguire, who believes the Magpies' majority owners injected £40m into the January transfer budget without damaging the club's ownership structure.
An update on Companies House published on Friday revealed United had managed to sell a single share with a face value of five pence to an unknown investor for £40m.
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Based on this sale, Price of Football podcast host Maguire calculates the Magpies would be valued at a staggering £319 trillion if every share was sold at the same value.
The 'statement of capital following an allotment of shares' is dated January 24 - the week before Newcastle confirmed the signings of Dan Burn, Bruno Guimaraes and Matt Targett.
Maguire believes the £40m injection came from the PIF in a manner which funded the last week of transfer business without adding to the club's debt or falling foul of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.
He told ChronicleLive: "Newcastle needed some funding for the January transfer budget so they issued one share to an investor for £40m.
"That gave them the cash to go out into the market and make the acquisitions that we've seen. I think it's quite clever.
"It was to allow the club to also sign-off on some of those deals. If you've got a selling club who wants cash, most deals these days are done on credit terms.
"If they went to Burnley and/or Brighton and say we'd normally pay over four years, but we'll give you 70-80% of that cash up front. The selling clubs go great, this is good for cash flow.
"You can put as much money into the club via shares as you wish, but only £90m over a rolling three-year period qualifies. Investment via shares for FFP calculations is capped at £90m, and I think they've already put quite a bit in when they first got involved."
The investment of £40m for the return of a single share may seem odd at first glance, but Maguire is convinced it was done to preserve the ownership model and keep Amanda Staveley and the Reuben brothers involved.
The University of Liverpool lecturer cites Everton as an example where Farhad Moshiri's sustained investment in recent seasons has diminished the influence of the club's shareholders.
By opting for just one share, Maguire believes PIF's move will also help relations with the Premier League which are likely strained following the lengthy takeover saga.
He explained: "They've got nearly eight million shares and I think the concern would be, PIF want to fund the transfer market but they still want Amanda Staveley and the Reuben brothers to own 10% of the club each.
"By buying one more share - I think it can only be PIF - PIF keep their 80%, the other two keep their 10% each, and the club gets cash.
"PIF clearly have the resources and they don't want to load the club with debt. My knowledge of Islamic finance is sketchy, but they're not very keen on traditional debt or interest, so this is a way of investing and avoiding that particular route.
"They worked out the budget for Kieran Trippier, Burn etc, and it was money needed to make those acquisitions.
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"They could have bought 40m shares for £1 each, the same amount of money would have gone into the club but PIF would have ended up with 90-95% of the club.
"This way keeps the other two shareholders with a significant investment, and I think it helps Newcastle with the Premier League. PIF can say we're being run by a shareholder in Staveley who is on the board and has significant links to the club."
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