Keith Wyness drops verdict on Newcastle landing UEFA ban after new breaches
Newcastle United are unlikely to face any genuine threat of being suspended from European competitions by UEFA in the coming years.
That is according to former Aston Villa chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the threat of a ban is a last resort for UEFA when it comes to these measures.
This comes after the Magpies were fined over £5million for breaching two of UEFA’s financial restrictions last term, including their squad cost ratio.
Wyness believes that Newcastle are moving “in the right direction” when it comes to becoming compliant with the governing body’s guidelines in the future.
The Tynesiders are no strangers to sanctions from UEFA in recent years, and they were part of a huge group of Premier League clubs who received fines on this occasion.
Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa also found themselves in hot water for their spending, but Wyness does not expect Newcastle’s misdemeanour to have big consequences moving forward.
UEFA trying to ‘encourage’ clubs with squad cost ratio
Villa’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Villa Park between 2016 and 2018 and now runs a consultancy business advising elite clubs – believes Newcastle have shown enough positive signs to avoid the threat of a ban from UEFA.
He stressed that the sanctions could become “self-defeating” for UEFA if they turn towards bans, since they are trying to “encourage” clubs to fall in line with the rules.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, he explained why Newcastle’s efforts to cut their costs are likely to help them avoid a ban from UEFA.
“Well, the whole thing with these fines is to try and incentivise clubs rather than actually punish them. And if they're going in the right direction, which Newcastle have been, then hopefully it won't come to that (a ban),” Wyness said.
“It becomes self-defeating if it starts to become a really bad sanction from the UEFA point of view because they want to encourage clubs to follow them.
“That's what they've been doing so far, which is why so many of these fines are suspended. This isn't like the first season this has been happening, so clubs have now got some experience behind it.
“They know the timings around making moves, what they have to do. So we'll see how it plays out.”
Newcastle move for Alexander Sorloth hinges on Argentina superstar
Football Insider revealed earlier this week that Newcastle’s move for Alexander Sorloth hinges on Julian Alvarez’s future at Atletico Madrid this summer.
Barcelona are lining up a move to try to prise the Argentine forward away from their La Liga rivals, and Atletico are determined not to lose both of their star strikers in the same window.
Sorloth could be sold by Atletico this summer, but any plans for a sale will go to the wall if they are ultimately unable to keep hold of Alvarez.
The Norwegian international netted 20 goals in all competitions last term, and also has interest from Everton at the moment.