What 'everyone' has got wrong about Newcastle and Man City's battle with the Premier League - expert
Newcastle United and Man City have become unlikely allies in the latest drama unfolding at Premier League HQ – something few would have expected just...
Newcastle United and Man City have become unlikely allies in the latest drama unfolding at Premier League HQ – something few would have expected just a few years ago.
Their owners, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Abu Dhabi United Group respectively, hail from rival Gulf states but have a shared interest in the Premier League’s spending rules.
Man City are currently fighting on two fronts against the Premier League, with their ‘115 charges’ case ongoing and now the fallout from their challenge to the league’s APT rules.
The APT (associated party transaction rules) govern commercial deals with entities linked to club owners and were set up in the wake of the Newcastle takeover to prevent clubs signing artificially inflated deals.
City have claimed victory in the case, although so have the Premier League. It has been a case study in spin, and the truth is that even the experts aren’t entirely sure what would qualify as a ‘win’.
But one thing is for sure, the Premier League does now have to at least partially rewrite its APT rules.
Why is that significant? Because, in theory, it could have major implications for the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
In theory, again, PSR is the only thing stopping City and Newcastle’s oil-rich owners from spending whatever the please in the transfer market.
So what is the latest? TBR Football spoke exclusively to Kieran Maguire, the well-connected Liverpool University football finance lecturer and author of the Price of Football.
Man City and Newcastle await APT update
With the Premier League pencilling a series of meetings to attempt to resolve the APT issue and draft a new set of rules, City are continuing their offensive.
As one of the clubs that gave evidence in City’s favour at the APT tribunal, Newcastle are also strategizing about how they can best engineer the situation to their advantage.
Man City’s legal counsel Simon Cliff is now arguing that the outcome of the APT case means that the entire APT system is null and void.
“There is an element of kicking somebody while there down here,” said Maguire, commenting on the latest drama behind the scenes.
“As we move two weeks on from the original judgement, the Premier League weren’t able to implement a sticking plaster for the existing rules. That is because it is a complex issue.
“Man City’s argument in relation to the interest-free loans appears to have more and more validity the more you reflect on it, as opposed to have a reactionary response.
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The future of PSR and APT rules in the Premier League
Zooming out to look at the broader picture in terms of the Premier League’s spending rules, Maguire insists that we need to have a conversation about what we want the system to look like.
He also suggested that the targeting of Man City’s commercial operation is somewhat unfair given that their peers make comparable income from other income streams.
“The broader issue is that people, Newcastle and Man City included, have got to decide what they want the Premier League to look like as a competition.
“Man City generate far less money from matchday revenue, less than half of Manchester United’s, for example. But they make up for it with commercial deals.
“If the aim of the Premier League is that they think they should be pushing Man City to get more matchday revenue and thereby increasing ticket prices, I’m not sure I see the merits in that.
“You could argue that Man City’s commercial success with APTs has allowed them to have a ticket pricing structure that has benefited its fanbase.
“What is the downside to that?”
Man City don’t want the end of PSR
A narrative that has often played out in the press, in the stands, and on social media is that City are trying to bring the whole PSR system crashing down.
Nonsense, says Maguire.
“The only thing that every club agrees on is that they want their club to have more money and they other 91 to have less.
“One thing that everyone gets wrong is that City don’t want the complete abolition of cost control. I don’t think many people would suggest that and they have never advocated for that.“
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