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7 Feb, 2020 18:12

Kim Kardashian pal 'helping Saudis with takeover bid for Premier League club Newcastle'

Kim Kardashian pal 'helping Saudis with takeover bid for Premier League club Newcastle'

A close chum of Kim Kardashian who attended the star's wedding to Kanye West and has ties with Floyd Mayweather is reportedly playing a key role in the Saudi government’s $440 billion bid for Premier League club Newcastle United.

Carla DiBello is a golf-loving businesswoman with more than 646,000 followers on Instagram and an agency that she describes as having carried out deals worth more than a quarter of a billion dollars between “top companies” in the US and the Middle East.

The 35-year-old, who wrote about the need to not buy “new things just for the sake of it” in a recent column for American magazine Harper's Bazaar, is helping Public Investment Fund with their proposed acquisition of the Magpies from owner Mike Ashley, according to Bloomberg.

READ MORE: Saudis ‘in talks to buy Newcastle United’ as crown prince eyes Premier League entry

Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan is leading the fund as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil, managing around $320 billion of assets.

DiBello has liked a humorous tweet by a Newcastle fan in the US suggesting that the Crown Prince’s full name, which is 18 words long, would cost all of his vast wealth if it was printed on one of the club’s replica shirts.

The tweet is one of only four DiBello has liked, including one from Kardashian in which she is relaxing on a swing in Bali.

Newcastle fans have posted replies in the black and white colours of the club on DiBello’s Instagram page, where many of her posts show the advisor enjoying the high life in the Middle East, including a ringside photo at the fight between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr in December, adding: “Saudi Arabia wins.”

Her posts show her in London over Christmas, although they do not indicate whether she had any dealings with representatives of Newcastle and Ashley, who has struggled to sell the club during a tenure that has been unpopular with supporters.

She has posted a photo with undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather, writing in her column that the semi-retired champion called her from Italy “wanting to come see Dubai for a few days.”

A video of Mayweather also shows him about to bungee jump from the top of a building in Dubai, with DiBello writing: “When you get to the top and start having second thoughts.”

Numerous snaps with Kardashian, who she also worked with on Kourtney and Kim Take New York, include one showing the pair on a yacht, captioned: “HBD to my ride or die from the day we met! Love you from Dubai and back! (As it feels further than the moon)”

In a photo from a Christmas Eve party thrown by the Kardashian’s mother, Kris Jenner, DiBello can be seen posing in a booth with the pair and rapper Drake.

She has attended events such as Formula E and horse race the Dubai World Cup, as well as posting shots with Drake in a restaurant and at Formula 1 events.

UK billionaire Ashley has owned Newcastle, who are currently 12th in the Premier League, since 2007. He is estimated to be worth around $4 billion by Forbes.

Also on rt.com 'Sportswashing, plain and simple': Human rights watchdog Amnesty slams Saudi consortium bid for EPL side Newcastle United

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