Football journalist Julien Laurens believes that Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules could be loosened up for Newcastle United and the club’s potential new owners.
Laurens was recently a guest on the latest episode of the ESPN FC podcast and the panel discussed many things on European football. One topic Laurens was asked about was the latest FFP ruling involving Manchester City, with the journalist focusing on how FFP could impact new owners like that of the Magpies.
Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has already agreed a deal for the club to be sold to new owners, but the deal remains in the pipeline and the takeover is yet to be completed.
While talking about how FFP could help Newcastle’s new owners, Laurens said: “Who will have backing from a state like PSG and Man City? Maybe the next one would be Newcastle with the Saudis, and good luck to them if they want to breach Financial Fair Play – and by the time they take over, by the way, the rules might be loosened up a bit for [the] new ownership.
Will FFP rules get loosened up for Newcastle's takeover
Absolutely
I don't think so
“And people who arrive in a club and say, ‘listen, I want to invest heavily now, can we loosen up the regulations so I can go into debt and then in the next five years, I’m going to balance the books?’ It’s not looking good. This is not a good thing for FFP, it’s not a good thing for UEFA, and it’s not a good thing for people who want to invest in football.”
Clearly, Laurens believes that some FFP rules could be loosened by UEFA by the time the Newcastle takeover happens. He also believes that the current rules wouldn’t really help the people who want to invest in football clubs considering how Manchester City have been let off the hook despite falling foul of regulations.
TIF Thoughts…
There is no certainty about whether the Newcastle takeover will go through or not. However, it has been reported that if it does go through, the Magpies will knock off Man City in the Premier League money rankings and become the wealthiest club in England.
Going by that, the takeover would really help Newcastle and could lead to them competing in the higher reaches of English and European football. Loosening FFP rules for the Magpies would only lead to more competition and as a result, the game could become even more interesting. So Newcastle fans would surely love it if the club could enjoy some financial freedom if and when the takeover goes through.