Magpies set to be hit hardest by new rules
NEWCASTLE United will be among those ‘disruptors’ who will be ‘most frustrated’ by the Premier League’s new financial rules.
That is the view of football finance expert Kieran Maguire after top-flight clubs agreed in principle to replace the existing regulations, which currently limit losses to up to £105m over a rolling three-year period.
The Premier League will follow in UEFA’s footsteps by adopting a squad cost ratio model, which will restrict what can be spent on transfers, wages and agents fees to a percentage of revenue.
A final vote on the new regulations will take place at the Premier League AGM in June and the suggestion is that the rules, which could shadow the current regulations during a transition period next season, will limit the outlay of clubs competing in Europe to 70% of revenue while those who fail to qualify for the Champions League, Europa League or Europa Conference League would be able to spend up to 85% of turnover.
That means that the established order will still be able to pay out far greater amounts than Newcastle because these clubs are generating far greater revenues. “Those clubs who are going to be most frustrated will be the likes of Newcastle and Villa where the owners are willing to put in a lot of money to invest in new talent i.e. more expensive talent and, therefore, in theory, better talent,” Maguire told the Price of Football podcast.
“Certainly the reaction I’ve seen on social media from fans of those clubs is, ‘We want to be disruptors. We want to be the new Chelsea or Manchester City in terms of challenging the established elite but these rules will not let us do so.’
“That is the down point. There is going to be very little difference between the position we presently operate apart from effectively the amount of money you can spend will be index linked because if your revenue goes up by 12%, what you can spend on players will go up 12%.”
Clubs who are going to be most frustrated will be the likes of Newcastle Kieran Maguire