Newcastle could submit instant legal claim against Premier League after Man City twist
Newcastle United could submit an instant legal claim against the Premier League after Manchester City reached a settlement agreement.
Man City have been in a battle with the Premier League over the past year regarding the associated party transaction (APT) rules.
Man City have now reached a settlement with the Premier League, with The Times reporting on 8 September Pep Guardiola’s side are in line to complete a “hugely lucrative” long-term deal with Etihad Airways as a result.
Newcastle decided not to join Man City as a co-complainant in their legal battle against the governing body.
However, former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Newcastle could still decide to take action against the Premier League.
Man City could share legal information with Newcastle
Man City successfully challenged the APT rules following a two-week private arbitration hearing in the summer of 2024, with the tribunal ruling the regulations in place were unlawful last October.
Following amendments by the Premier League, the Manchester giants challenged the APT rules again in February this year before the parties came to a settlement last week.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson said: “City have settled. It does have the benefit, of course, that Newcastle have not settled.
“So, if Newcastle wanted to make a complaint about the lawfulness of the current regime, they could do that tomorrow if they wanted to.
“They’re not bound in by the settlement and they’d obviously also have a lot of information about how a commission might look at this, how a panel might look at this from a competition perspective because they have all the benefit of the first APT hearing, and presumably City would share if they were able to under confidentiality some of their legal analysis of the situation that was leading up to the second APT.
“So, there’s this theoretical possibility that Newcastle could get busy.
“But I think in all likelihood, that’s not going to be the case and this really will be the end of it.”
Newcastle have seen their progress blocked by the APT rules since Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) took over the club in October 2021.
How much revenue do Newcastle and Man City earn?
Eddie Howe’s side previously struck sponsorship deals with Sela and Noon worth a combined £32.5million, but it is believed they could have potentially banked a higher fee with a relaxation of the APT rules.
Newcastle smashed their club-record revenue in 2023-24 after their overall turnover surged from £250m to £320m, while their commercial income improved from £47m to £86m across the same period.
That still puts them well behind Man City, whose turnover increased by £2.2m to £715m in 2023-24, with £344.7m of commercial revenue boosting that figure.
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