Newcastle watch Manchester City legal result with 'interest' as cards kept 'very close'

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..

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Manchester City, who deny 115 separate charges of breaching the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules, have claimed that their rivals have set out to limit deals from companies in the Gulf region to deliberately 'stifle commercial freedoms of particular clubs in particular circumstances and, thus, to restrict economic competition'. Newcastle have wisely kept their counsel, but the outcome of the case could have huge ramifications.

"Because of the way the APT rules are organised, you now have to go through a fairly administrative heavy and quite slow process before those deals can get approved," Maguire explained to the BBC. "City's concern is that if they are in a negotiating position with a sponsor, the sponsor might say, 'Well, actually, look, we just want to sponsor a football club. We won't go to Manchester City in the Premier League. We will go to the Bundesliga, to La Liga, to Serie A and we will get the deal signed over there because, frankly, it's less paperwork, it's less hassle and we can get that deal over the line that much quicker.'

"City feel that they are being discriminated against as are other clubs in similar positions to City and it's fair to say that Newcastle United are watching this with very close interest. But, at the same time, Newcastle are keeping their cards very close to their chest."