Newcastle have been cleared to sign players from clubs owned by the Saudi PIF after a failed Premier League vote.
A vote was put forward to ban ‘related party loans’ ahead of the January window but the 13-7 outcome in favour of the ban, failed to meet the two-thirds majority that is required by one single vote.
The meeting which took place on Tuesday, now gives Newcastle licence to sign players on loan from clubs also owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
These clubs are Al Nassr, Al Hilal, Al Ittihad and Al Ahli, which opens the door for potential loan deals for players like Sadio Mane, Cristiano Ronaldo and Riyad Mahrez.
In particular, Ruben Neves who currently plays for Al Hilal after joining from Wolves in the summer, was heavily linked with a January move to St James’ Park.
🚨 BREAKING: Premier League clubs have voted against ban on clubs loaning players from within the same ownership group.
It means Newcastle can sign players on loan from PIF owned clubs — and same for other clubs like Crystal Palace with Lyon and similar situations. pic.twitter.com/rQqkkzpzpm
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 21, 2023
But this also affects other clubs like Manchester City who are under the umbrella of the City Football Group which controls 13 clubs.
Speaking to CaughtOffside prior to the vote, co-creator of the Premier League, Jon Smith, claimed that there is nothing wrong with multi-club ownership as long as it’s policed properly.
“In principle, I agree that there should be some sort of management of multi-club ownership player swaps, because it gives rise to an advantage to those clubs against competing clubs who don’t have that accessibility to players and deals that perhaps are not as financially helpful,” he said in his exclusive agent’s column.
