Newcastle United are being massively hamstrung by profit and sustainability right now, and Gary Neville thinks that is wrong.
The Magpies were unable to invest during the January transfer window, with selling players deemed the only avenue towards potential reinforcements. There was speculation over Miguel Almiron, Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson leaving, but they all remained at St James’ Park.
There is also talk of Newcastle needing to cash in on one of their major stars to help with profit and sustainability, which has led to uncertainty over Bruno Guimaraes’ future. There are also fears surrounding Alexander Isak, who is the Magpies’ most expensive player ever.
Despite all of their wealth, the Newcastle owners are not being allowed to splash the cash like clubs have in the past. We saw it from Chelsea and Man City when they changed ownership, but now the Premier League are putting a stop to it.
The rules are getting tighter, which is making it even harder for Newcastle to go to that next level and consistently challenge at the top.
And Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville believes that Eddie Howe’s side should be allowed to spend more money than they currently are.
Gary Neville thinks Premier League rules should change
Neville has been speaking about Newcastle’s financial situation on The Overlap’s latest fan debate on YouTube, and believes that the Premier League’s rules need to change.
“I do think that if you want to try and punch up like Newcastle obviously do, with their ownership, Newcastle in my opinion should be able to spend the same money as Man City and Arsenal and Man United and Liverpool, because their owner funding model should allow them to,” he said.
“Newcastle at the moment, and I think this is wrong, they can never get naturally – and now the rules are tightening – you can never get to the levels of Man United or Man City. You would have to build your stadium to 100,000.
“It’s just mad. I do think the rules need changing.”
Newcastle United will struggle to reach top of Premier League under current financial rules
As Neville says, Newcastle are never going to reach the level of the top clubs with the current rules. That is wrong, as the Premier League should not be a closed shop. There should be an opportunity for clubs to progress and challenge the status quo, as Newcastle and Aston Villa have been trying to do in recent years.
Profit and sustainability appears to be such a massive problem throughout the entire Premier League, and it is clear that the rules are not fit for purpose. They are seriously hindering clubs with less revenue, even if their owners do have the capacity to spend more.
While teams should not be able to buy their way to success, there has to be a more even playing field. Right now there is not, and it is massively denting Newcastle United’s ability to progress.
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