Premier League rule change has 'dramatically' impacted Newcastle United amid £25m deal

Newcastle host Brentford in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday in a competition that is viewed as the most likely route to ending their 70-year trophy drought.

When the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia bought the club three years ago for £305million, former co-owner Amanda Staveley said it was an ambition to win the Premier League and Champions League ‘within five to 10 years’.

What probably felt like a real possibility under owners labelled ‘the richest in the world’ now feels a long way off.

And the major cause of that is the financial rules. Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) were in place before the takeover, however Associated Party Transactions rules were introduced almost immediately after.

It means sponsorship deals Newcastle agree with PIF-linked companies are subject to a fair market value [FMV] check like Sela was last year when they become the club’s front-of-shirt sponsor for a reported £25million-per-season.

“I’d say it has had a dramatic effect on the speed of the journey,” Howe added. “I can’t deny that that has dramatically changed due to the rules and you can feel that change, especially as everyone has got to grips with PSR and the actual reality of it.

“I think there was a period of time when it was unclear how it would change and what the punishments would be and then of course the punishments became very real for the clubs.

“There is nothing more sobering than a thought of a points deduction in terms of changing what you have to do to comply. I think that has been the biggest change in our reality and what we can and can’t do. Of course that will affect our ability to change things as quickly as possible from a view of winning trophies.”

That said, Howe remains determined to bring a trophy back to Tyneside.

“If it isn’t from my viewpoint then there’s something wrong,” Howe said if he had a burning desire to win a trophy. “It’s what we’re here to do.

“As a player I was desperate to win a league, a cup, whatever it was, the desire for silverware as a player was so strong. Of course people will tell me I never got close to doing that at all in my career and that was a burning frustration so now as a manager of course we are here to win games and set short targets and isolate games and the next game is the most important but ultimately you’ve got a long-term vision behind that of I desperately want to win a trophy for this football club, for the supporters here, for their patience, for the support since I’ve been at the club, nothing would please me more.”