Kieran Maguire: Newcastle’s dream now almost ‘impossible’ as radical Uefa overhaul imminent
New financial reforms will make it “difficult veering on impossible” for Newcastle United to break the glass ceiling in football.
So says finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about Uefa’s planned overhaul of the financial fair play system.
The New York Times reported on Tuesday (22 March) Uefa is set to abandon its limits on financial losses in favour of a new system linked to revenue.
Clubs playing in Uefa competitions will now be unable to spend over 70 per cent of their annual turnover on transfers, wages and agents’ fees.
That is in contrast to the current system, which allows clubs to lose £25million over a rolling three-year period.
Saudi PIF-backed Newcastle are the world’s richest club but are unable to spend freely because of current FFP constraints.
And Maguire claims that the new system would further “bake in” the gap between aspirational clubs like the Magpies and the established order.
“It’s going to make things more difficult,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“These rules are there to prevent clubs like Newcastle from taking one of the Champions League places that the big six clubs feel are theirs by right.
“We saw that with Super League as they made an invitation-only competition. The new proposals bake in those pre-existing revenue gaps between clubs.
“The rewards for being in the Champions League are so high that it would be very difficult for Newcastle to bridge that gap.
“Football is a talent industry and talent costs a lot of money. Manchester City’s wage bill is triple that of Newcastle, for instance.
“How do you address that if you’re not allowed to spend more on wages because wages are now linked to revenue.
“In turn, your wages dictate your revenue and it becomes a circularity. It makes life hard veering on impossible for aspirational clubs like Newcastle.”
The maximum permitted loss over a three-year period is also set to rise to £50m under the new reforms.
Premier League clubs not competing in Uefa competitions have their own FFP rules, which permit losses of no more than £105m over three years.
In other news, Newcastle United tipped to emulate Man City after “phenomenal” £540m confirmed news.