Newcastle United’s squad has regressed due to ongoing struggles with PSR.
For Eddie Howe, he is sure to feel like he is fighting with one arm tied behind his back. By no means did he want to sell the players he had in the last two transfer windows, but the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) forced him to.
Sporting director Paul Mitchell will also understandably be frustrated with how little he has recruited for Newcastle’s first-team squad since taking the reins last summer. Mitchell joined shortly after Elliot Anderson and Yankba Minteh left Newcastle, being left to pick up the pieces.
Newcastle United are still fighting for a place in the Champions League but with the Premier League table so tight they could still fail to qualify for Europe at all. If that happens, Toon fans will look towards the lack of transfer activity and the fact they had to also lose two squad players, Lloyd Kelly and Miguel Almiron in the January window.
Mitchell is expected to spend at Newcastle in the summer thanks to a £73m boost they will receive once the heavy financial losses from three years ago are chalked off, but the players they want to recruit may be less likely to join if they fail to qualify for Europe.
With Newcastle hoping their plans are not hampered too much, they have an unlikely ally within the Premier League who made his feelings clear about PSR and FFP in 2024.
- READ MORE – ‘Heard this from lawyers’… Newcastle tipped to seek compensation after Premier League block £25m-plus deal
John Textor’s staunch PSR rant in 2024 amid Newcastle struggles
Crystal Palace owner John Textor is known for his outlandish personality and willingness to say things as they are. At times, the American has publicly commented on transfer speculation regarding players. Textor ruled out Rayan Cherki’s Lyon exit after reports that several clubs, including Newcastle, were interested in him.
Textor inadvertently sided with Newcastle in 2024 at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit. Where he spoke openly about his distaste for PSR.
“It’s clear that [the rules are] built to make sure that clubs which do not drive significant revenues cannot catch up,” Textor said.
“It doesn’t matter if you have a billion dollars of cash in a wheelbarrow, you’re not allowed to spend it.
“Does that make any sense? [Forest owner Evangelos] Marinakis has plenty of money to fund his team but he’s not allowed to. If he spends too much and does what the fans want, somebody comes along and docks him points? That’s not right.”
“Financial fair play is a fraud of a term, to say it’s about sustainability,” Textor added.
“Sustainability should be about the quality of your balance sheet, not ratios against your P&L [profit and loss]. There’s nobody that actually thinks that makes sense.
“We have got three billionaires in our ownership group [at Palace], maybe more. We’re not allowed to spend at the level of teams that are in the top six.”
As well as Crystal Palace and Lyon, Textor owns Brazilian side Botafogo and Belgian club RWD Molenbeek.
Newcastle set to reap the benefits of Premier League APT ruling
In 2021, Premier League clubs voted in favour of introducing rules on Associated Party Transactions (APT) which meant Newcastle could not bring in the big-money sponsors they hoped would come following the PIF-backed takeover of the club.
However, Newcastle are now set to benefit from a recent ruling from an independent tribunal which deemed the rules were ‘unlawful’. Newcastle bosses weren’t moved by the APT announcement, as it does not change anything in the immediate future but it does mean that fans can expect to see more lucrative sponsorships arrive in the near future.
Newcastle could sue the Premier League for compensation if they can prove that they lost out on sponsorships due to the rules – it is believed that Manchester City are prepared to do the same. The ruling comes just in time for Newcastle to announce their plans for the stadium project which has been bubbling away since the takeover. PIF flew to Newcastle in February to watch the Magpies win against Nottingham Forest and to look at all available options for the stadium project.
No decision on what the PIF will choose has been made public as it stands but it is due very soon.
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