Stefan Borson: Newcastle progress to be blocked amid '£500m' reveal

Newcastle United’s progress is likely to be blocked until they can start generating more than £500million in revenue a season.

That is the view of finance expert Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider the Tyneside club are “stuck” after they have been prevented from landing significant commercial deals.

Newcastle have struggled to comply with the Premier League’s financial rules since their Saudi-backed takeover in 2021, with Eddie Howe’s side forced to sell Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh in the latest summer window.

The north-east giants have been blocked from agreeing significant commercial deals linked to their ownership group due to the associated party transaction (APT) rules.

Manchester City took legal action against the Premier League regarding the APT rules at an arbitration hearing in June, with two aspects of the regulations later deemed unlawful when the panel published its findings.

Top-flight clubs then approved key changes to the rules at a meeting in London on 22 November, but those alterations are unlikely to offer Newcastle much more room to manoeuvre.

Their latest published accounts showed their revenue rose to £250.3million for 2022-23, while CEO Darren Eales confirmed in July he expects the figure to have reached a club-record high last season by surpassing £300million.

Newcastle need to increase revenue to continue on-field progress

“They are stuck and they have always really been stuck,” Borson told Football Insider.

“The reality is it’s very hard to buck the wage bill versus league position situation. You really need a wage bill to be over £300million. The only way of getting a wage bill from a PSR perspective of over £300million is if you have got turnover over £450-500million.

“They haven’t got turnover over £500million because they are blocked from doing the commercial deals that they want to do.

“Their commercial deals plus their rather disappointing northern matchday revenue and I say northern because the teams outside of London and in the north are able to charge less per ticket than the clubs down south.

“Their matchday is just below £40million, which is comparable to someone like Rangers. If you look at Man United or Tottenham, they are over £120million. That’s three times Newcastle’s.

“They have a big issue on matchday, they are blocked off from doing the deals they want from their Saudi partners by the APT rules, and then they haven’t got any Europe at all this season on broadcast.

“They are not going to do anywhere near £450-500million.”

In other news, Man United and Newcastle race to sign teenage sensation.

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