'Not ideal': Football finance expert believes Man City's victory over Premier League may not help Newcastle much

We are still waiting for the outcome of the recent arbitration case between Manchester City and the Premier League to be made public after it was heavily hinted that City had won their case.

In a case separate to their 115 PSR breaches, Manchester City took the Premier League to arbitration claiming that the rules put in place which see the Premier League having the ability to determine what is 'fair market value' when it comes to Associated Part Transaction (APT), meaning if a company connected to a clubs' owners wanted to partner with the club, the Premier League could rule the deal unfair if they felt that the price of that sponsorship was overly inflated.

It's a trick used to get around the restrictive PSR rules by owners who have high-profile businesses who can afford to pump money into the club - something the PIF could easily have done for Newcastle United had the Premier League not moved to close the loophole after the takeover.

Manchester City were heavily affected by this rule change which they have determined to be a rule aimed directly at Gulf State owners.

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Stefan Borson doesn't believe Man City's victory will affect Newcastle significantly

Last week a review of the APT rules was removed from the agenda at the last minute ahead of the Premier League meeting suggesting a victory for Manchester City. It was then reported that if that was indeed the case, then Newcastle could be set to benefit massively.

While one finance expert, Dr Rob Wilson hailed it as a huge victory for Newcastle, Stefan Borson, who used to work with Manchester City erred on the side of caution and doubled down on that view on Wednesday. Borson told Football Insider that the victory may not 'move the dial' significantly for Newcastle.

“It doesn’t look like City have prevailed in the way that would be particularly useful to Newcastle.

“If City have only managed to get a concession in respect of the databank, I don’t think that’s going to move the dial where Newcastle are concerned.

“Around the edges, it might help them on some commercial deals, maybe it helps get somebody over the line for the training ground or something of that nature.

“But I don’t think it’s going to move the dial materially, so it’s not ideal for Newcastle.”

A win is a win no matter how you look at it

It's worth noting that it's all purely guess work at the moment and nobody really knows yet what the true outcome of the case is. We imagine Borson has some insider information, but at the same time he's a Football Insider go-to, so ... make of that what you will.

In all honesty, though, any kind of victory over the Premier League is significant. It may take a long time but if the top clubs keep chipping away at these restrictive rules, then eventually we might get to a system that makes sense.

Aston Villa are already starting to become frustrated with the Premier League as they are in a similar position to Newcastle - ready to compete but restricted by stupid rules that only seem fit to maintain the status quo.