SPLASH THE CASH? WE CAN’T GET HOWAY WITH IT
FFP rules stopping Toon’s moneybags Saudis spending big
PITY poor Newcastle – their owners have more cash than anyone but are forbidden to spend it.
That’s the huge dilemma manager Eddie Howe has to grapple with as he tries to turn Toon into bona fide title challengers.
On one hand, the Premier League wants competition, with fresh blood challenging for honours. On the other, Newcastle’s latest accounts have revealed how much of a handbrake Premier League financial rules have put on their relaunch.
The club is growing, with turnover soaring to £250million after finishing fourth last season. But they are still hundreds of millions of pounds behind their top-six rivals.
They can easily afford a spending splurge, funded by Saudi owners, but aren’t allowed to splash the cash because to do so would rack up rule-breaking losses – capped at £105m over a three-year period.
The Tynesiders accept there has to be a limit put on losses, but they expected it to be a whole heap higher than £105m.
Toon chief executive Darren Eales said: “There’s always a discussion on a whole raft of Premier League rules. I think it’s fair to say that a lot of people probably didn’t expect it to be the (£105m) level that it was. That has certainly focused minds.
“How do you protect the risk of clubs spending beyond their means, going into liquidation and disappearing, while still allowing clubs with the means and the ability to spend to be upwardly mobile? That’s always the tension.”
An early Champions League exit meant Newcastle earned only £37m from Europe’s elite competition this season after fighting so hard last season to qualify for it.
Big sponsorship deals with Adidas and Sela won’t show up until the next set of accounts.
Bruno Guimaraes, Sven Botman, Alexander Isak, Kieran Trippier and Anthony
Gordon (all pictured) have been bought to Tyneside but at some point a key player will be sold. So are there any January deals in the offing? It sounds unlikely. Eales said it is “difficult to do any major surgery” and points out that players are coming back from injury.
Newcastle are confident they’ll keep sporting director Dan Ashworth amid interest from Manchester United.
And manager Howe – under pressure after recent results – has been given backing from Tyneside higher-ups.
Eales added: “Eddie has done a remarkable job. Sometimes you have to pinch yourself that we were 19th and fearing relegation and then last season, for the first time in 20 years, we got to play in a Wembley final and qualified for the Champions League.
“There’s no doubt we have had that real progress on the pitch and Eddie is a huge part of that. We hope he is going to be with us for many years to come.”
The club accounts also reveal that part-owner Amanda Staveley was given £659,000 of club funds for legal fees on August 31 last year.
She was also given £600,000 on November 7, 2022, for legal fees. Club sources refused to say what this was for, adding it was a matter for Staveley. The accounts say the sums were loans and will be repaid.