Kieran Maguire: Mike Ashley cited as Newcastle told to be ‘careful’ around £300m talks
Newcastle United have to be careful how they vote for Premier League financial distribution due to their previous history under Mike Ashley.
That is the opinion of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about Newcastle’s stance on the financial distribution talks between the Premier League and the EFL.
The EFL is demanding £300million from the Premier League during negotiations over balancing the finances across England’s football pyramid.
Football Insider sources revealed last month (10 February) that Newcastle sided against the Premier League ‘big six’ when voting on the continuation of parachute payments.
Newcastle were relegated twice under former owner Mike Ashley and benefitted from the parachute payments offered by the Premier League when in the second tier.
Maguire believes the Tyneside club no longer face the threat of relegation under their new Saudi-backed ownership but voted to continue the payments due to their “legacy”.
“With the Premier League and EFL resuming talks about financial distribution, Newcastle will have to be careful with how they decide to align their support,” Maguire told Football Insider‘s Sean Fisher.
“The chances of Newcastle being relegated under the new owners has to be considered to be remote.
“Therefore they would probably be happy to see parachute payments go by the wayside.
“At the same time, their legacy is that they were relegated under Mike Ashley.
“I suspect that progress will be very slow between the Premier League and the EFL as the Premier League will drag their heels as long as possible.
“They’ll delay until the proposals for an independent regulator become enshrined in legislation.“
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