Newcastle could close Premier League financial gap after stadium update – Borson
Newcastle United have been considering plans to build a new stadium or expand St James’ Park as they look to continue their recent on-field progress.
The Tyneside club have struggled to comply with the financial rules since the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) secured its £305million takeover in 2021.
Finance expert Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Newcastle could start challenging the top Premier League clubs financially if they were to build a new stadium.
Newcastle could challenge top Premier League clubs after stadium update
The Telegraph reported on 4 February Newcastle’s board are understood to be on the verge of recommending the construction of a new £1.2billion stadium as the best option to their Saudi owners.
The proposal would see the development overlap the current Leazes Stand and have a capacity of just under 70,000, making it significantly bigger than the 52,000 St James’ Park holds.
Borson insisted it would be difficult for the north-east giants to generate the necessary revenue to allow them to compete without the new stadium.
He told Football Insider: “I’m sure there are loads of planning issues.
“A £1.2billion project in Newcastle would be one of the biggest – if not the biggest project – of the last 10 years. From a building perspective, it’s hard to think that there would be other £1billion projects.
“You are going to have a lot of planning issues, but I suspect the council are all for it, so they will be looking to do whatever they can to accommodate the planning situation because it would be fantastic for the city.
“There are loads of issues, but they have got specific people on board now and property experts. We know that the funding of it is going to be in PIF’s sweet spot.
“They have just got to get on with it if they are going to do it. It’s all ring-fenced outside of PSR and the squad cost control. Although PIF have got deep pockets, do they really want to spend over £1billion on the stadium? That’s the great unknown.
“But it is probably the key way in which Newcastle can start to bring themselves into the mix while we have financial fair play regulations.
“Without the stadium, it’s just very hard to see how they can generate sufficient revenue to pay a wage bill that competes on a regular basis.
“Don’t get me wrong, they have done it incredibly well so far on a wage bill of under £250million to get in the Champions League, compete on the field as we saw against Arsenal and to sign the players that they need.
“Their transfer market work has been generally excellent. Every team fails with some signings, but they have generally done very well in the transfer market.
“They have done all that with quite a low wage bill compared to other teams like Liverpool, Man City, Man United and Chelsea, but they need more revenue.
“Because of the way the rules work, they are not completely capped out, but it’s not that easy to justify big associated party sponsorships.”
Newcastle have smashed club record after financial reveal
Football Insider revealed on 8 January Newcastle’s revenue surpassed £300million for the first time last season.
That was backed up by the figures in Deloitte’s 2025 Money League, which showed the club’s turnover increased from £250m to £316million in 2023-24.
Their commercial revenue surged from £47million to £77million across the same period, while their matchday income at St James’ Park grew from £38million to £58million.
The wage bill also rose from £187million to £215million last season, with Eddie Howe’s side competing in the Champions League.
But Newcastle remain significantly down on Manchester City’s numbers after the English champions posted a Premier League record revenue of £715million and a £413million wage bill for 2023-24.
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