Newcastle united Sign a new Big key players Form Manchester City…

Newcastle United’s takeover led to a change to the Premier League’s sponsorship rules and Manchester City have argued their rivals did this to ‘safeguard their own commercial advantages’

Newcastle United have kept their cards ‘very close to their chest’ – but the Magpies will watch the result of Manchester City’s legal fight with ‘interest’.

That is the verdict of football finance expert Kieran Maguire after Manchester City challenged the validity of the Premier League’s associated party transaction (APT) regulations during a two-week arbitration hearing that was due to finish yesterday. Manchester City have suggested that 18 rival clubs introduced these rules so that they could ‘safeguard their own commercial advantages’ following Newcastle’s takeover in 2021.

The regulations ensure all commercial deals with companies associated with clubs’ owners are independently assessed to establish they are of fair market value. They have since been tightened further this year to ‘enhance the efficiency and accuracy of the system’, which was the final straw for Manchester City, and led to this legal battle..