Newcastle United’s interest in signing Ruben Neves from Al Hilal in January could be about to come to an end.
The Magpies are in the market for a centre midfielder, with Sandro Tonali suspended until August 2024. While the Italian can still train with the club, Eddie Howe is a midfielder light for the rest of the season and needs a replacement.
There was an attempt to trial Matt Targett in that position before his injury, while it could lead to Lewis Miley playing more. However, the most likely solution is signing someone in January.
And one of the most regular players to be linked is Ruben Neves.
He currently plays for Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia, having joined from Wolves in the summer for £47million. Despite only just moving there, it has been claimed that Neves is not settled and would be interested in returning to the Premier League.
That could open the door for Newcastle, who are reportedly interested in a loan deal for the 26-year-old.
However, that door could now be slammed shut by Newcastle’s Premier League rivals.
Premier League plan would stop Newcastle signing Ruben Neves
It was reported on Wednesday by the Daily Mail that Premier League clubs are planning a vote to temporarily stop loan deals between clubs that have the same owners.
That would stop Newcastle from signing Neves, as Al Hilal’s majority shareholders are PIF, just like the Magpies.
The vote, which is set to take place on November 21, will need 14 out of 20 teams to agree for it to be put in place.
It feels like a deliberate move to stop Newcastle from snapping up players from the Saudi Pro League, even though Premier League clubs have loaned players to clubs under the same ownership umbrella for years.
However, the Telegraph add that it is being said privately that this vote is not specifically designed to stop Newcastle signing Neves when the January transfer window opens.
If it passes, this will become another Premier League rule change that has been enforced since Newcastle were taken over by PIF. All sponsorship deals must now be approved by the Premier League to ensure they represent fair market value, as there were fears that Newcastle would agree over-inflated deals with Saudi companies.
That rule in itself is fine, but the timing was designed to dent Newcastle’s progress. After all, there were no rule changes when Leicester City started playing at the King Power Stadium or Manchester City became sponsored by Etihad.
This merely feels like another ploy by Premier League rivals to stop Newcastle from progressing.
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