What is likely to happen to Premier League APT rules after Man City 'win' - blow for Newcastle United

That’s according to football finance expert Kieran Maguire after Manchester City claimed to have won its legal challenge against the league’s APT rules. And Newcastle United fans are eager to discover how it impacts their club.

APT rules were introduced in the wake of Newcastle’s £305million takeover by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia three years ago. In the document released from Man City’s arbitration case, it revealed a Premier League executive - whose name has been redacted - emailed the league on behalf of his club and 10 others just five days after the PIF buy-out was finalised.

Premier League clubs were initially placed under a temporary ban from agreeing commercial deals with companies linked to their owners before the ban was lifted and replaced by the process that is still in place today, with every related-party deal independently assessed to represent ‘fair market value’.

In an official statement released on Monday, Man City wrote: “APT rules have been found to be unlawful” and that they “violate UK competition law and violate the requirements of procedural fairness.”

Removing APT rules would essentially allow Newcastle to sign more lucrative commercial deals with PIF-linked companies and therefore bolster their revenue and ability to spend in the transfer market in line with Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) However, the prospect of that is being played down.

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“There’ll be two cheers at St James’ Park rather than three when they’re reading the verdict, I’d think,” Maguire told iNews. “Despite what both sides are saying, I don’t think it’s a knockout blow for either party. The rules will have to be rewritten rather than relaxed.”

The Premier League is set to host an emergency meeting with all 20 of its clubs next week to discuss potential changes to APT rules. The Premier League say it “will continue to operate the existing APT system, taking into account the findings made by the Tribunal.”

An amendment to APT rules could, of course, still benefit Newcastle but how exactly is unclear at this stage.

One of Man City’s arguments is that interest-free director loans - which nine of the 20 clubs have - should be considered as part of APT calculations. Indeed, that won favour with the independent panel but Maguire said: “I don’t know how you are going to get 14 clubs to vote in favour of including shareholder loans at an imputed rate of interest.

“Brighton wouldn’t do it because Tony Bloom’s owed £400m, Arsenal and Liverpool aren’t going to do it.”