Newcastle agree fine with Uefa – here’s why it will be less than Aston Villa’s £9.5m
Newcastle United are close to agreeing a deal with Uefa over the punishment they will face for breaching financial fair play rules, The i Paper can reveal.
It is understood that the Magpies, who reached the last 16 of the Champions League, breached Uefa’s football earnings and squad cost rules – and that will result in both a fine and the club signing up to strict conditions around future compliance.
Those rules, which Newcastle will continue to comply with despite being out of Europe next season, are one of the reasons why the sale of at least one of their crown jewels is expected this summer.
While the size of the fine is partly decided by a formula, Uefa takes into account each club’s circumstances and Newcastle have made a convincing case both about why they breached and plans to stay within the limits for the future.
They believe they have shown themselves to be “good citizens” and it is why any fine will be much smaller than the £9.5m levied on Aston Villa last season, who also faced fairly draconian conditions about reining in spending in their settlement agreements.
There have been months of negotiations between the Newcastle hierarchy and Sunil Gulati, who chairs Uefa’s Club Financial Control Body, with the latest round of talks taking place on Monday.
What does this mean for Newcastle’s summer plans?
Knowing the scale and size of Uefa’s punishment gives the Magpies much-needed clarity heading into a summer that will transform the makeup of the squad.
And when the decision is announced it will also offer some insight to frustrated fans about why Newcastle will have to “box smart” in this and future transfer windows.
Spending is pegged to club revenue and while the club have a number of sponsorship deals lined up to follow on their training ground naming rights deal with Knox, they will also need to sell players.
Newcastle are in talks with Bayern Munich to sell Anthony Gordon but Liverpool, Barcelona and Chelsea are also interested in the £75m-rated winger.
While significant change is anticipated – and failing to qualify for the Champions League shrinks the budget and means some of the club’s bigger players are open to moves away – it is worth pointing out there is also optimism that Newcastle are heading into this summer in a much healthier position than a year ago.
“We know what has to be done,” one senior source says.
There is also an appreciation that this campaign’s 12th placed finish is “unacceptable” and that the current squad has grown stale and won’t hit next season’s ambitious targets.
The silver lining of Sunday’s desperate defeat at Fulham – which confirmed Newcastle’s lower mid-table finish – is that it once again illustrated the need for change at the club, with some starters at the weekend not expected to return next season. Joe Willock is available and has interest from Crystal Palace.
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المصدر: iNews