Overview
- Premier League clubs are set to vote on a temporary measure banning loan deals between associated clubs, a move that could disrupt Newcastle United's potential acquisition of Ruben Neves from Al-Hilal, as both clubs are majority-owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia.
- The proposed ban would only apply to incoming loans, not outgoing ones, and is intended to uphold the integrity of the competition while longer-term regulations are discussed.
- Under existing associated-party transaction rules, clubs must demonstrate that they have obtained fair market value during player transfers. This regulation impacted Newcastle's transfer of Allan Saint-Maximin to Al-Ahli, another PIF-owned club.
- The temporary ban needs support from 14 out of the 20 Premier League clubs to be implemented. The decision is slated for the November 21 shareholders' meeting.
- While the move is not specifically targeted at preventing Newcastle's signing of Neves, reports suggest that rival teams might object to Al-Hilal loaning Neves to Newcastle in January. Additionally, Manchester City and Chelsea, who also operate multi-club models, could be affected by the proposed change.