Newcastle have decided not to join Man City in legal battle against Premier League
Newcastle United decided not to join Manchester City as a co-complainant in their legal battle against the Premier League.
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.
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider the latest update is unlikely to have much impact on Newcastle’s situation.
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.
Newcastle deals need to be assessed by Premier League
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 about whether the update could impact Newcastle, Borson said: “Not massively. I don’t know what the Premier League has agreed to do in terms of proposing new rules, but the thing with Newcastle in any event was that their two key sponsors, Noon and Sela, are both related parties.
“On top of being associated, they’re related. So, even if there was no associated party regime, they would still need to be fair market value and would still have to be tested.
“I don’t believe the story, for example, that Newcastle has just been waiting around to see what happens with the second APT case.
“And in any event, it’s obvious that Newcastle didn’t feel strongly enough about the situation to be a co-claimant because they could have said to City, we’ll join with you in this complaint.
“This is way back when City started the arbitration. We’ll join with you as a co-complainant and we’ll both go after the Premier League, we’ll split the fees in half and we’ll dictate the conduct of the case in a joined-up way, and they didn’t do that.
“I think largely because they didn’t want to wind everybody up around the table. That does mean that they are waiting to see what happens as much as anybody else, but it means they have no control over the situation.”
Newcastle were ready to submit documents in support of Man City ahead of their first APT hearing, but it’s unclear whether they were required in the end.
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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