Featured
Newcastle United aiming high in the summer – but will FFP allow this?
Aiming to spend big in the summer, Newcastle United need to balance the spending with the money generated to avoid falling victim to FFP regulations.
The £300 million takeover in October 2021 brought new life to Newcastle United and under their Saudi Arabian owners, they plan on doing so again this summer with four ‘elite’ players set to come in ready for next season.
Having already had the threat of breaking FFP regulations in January when the club signed Anthony Gordon from Everton for £45 million, why is it the club can continue to spend big this coming window?
In 2022, rules were approved by UEFA stating that by 2025, a club’s total expenditure on transfers, wages and agent fees must not exceed 70 per cent of their total revenue.
Clubs will be allowed to lose €60 million (£53.6 million) over a three-year period, with an extra €10 million annual loss permitted if the club are deemed to be “in good financial health”.
In Newcastle’s most recent accounts for June 2021 to July 2022, the first released by the consortium controlled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, since they bought the club in October 2021, Newcastle lost £70.7 million, despite an increased turnover of £40 million since former owner Mike Ashley sold them.
They have spent over £250 million on new players in the three transfer windows combined but are planning to sign at least four ‘elite’ players to further boost manager Eddie Howe’s squad ahead of their return to European football.
To navigate FFP, the club will have to sell players that are below standard or are not needed at the club anymore, with players out of contract in the summer as well, this will reduce wages that the club do not need to spending as well.
Champions League football next season means a better sponsorship deal for the club with a new shirt sponsor imminent for the next campaign, however the club need to wait until their fate is decided before they can complete negotiations for a new sponsor. If they are in the Champions League, the deal they could get would be similar to those of Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool which net around £40 million a year. Compare that to Newcastle’s current sponsorship deal with betting firm Fun88 which generates less than £10 million for the club.
FFP losses are calculated over a three-year period which will help Newcastle, allowing them to spread the cost of deals, encouraging them to bring forward their spending plans to launch an ambitious summer recruitment drive.
The business model when the takeover went through was to have a budget of around £50 million in each transfer window. Newcastle have gone over that by at least £100 million up to this point, but if they combine the January budget with the summer one next season, it gives them more flexibility. The plan is to buy in the summer, not the winter, next season.
Newcastle will look to offload players this summer. They have brought in £12 million (possibly rising to £15 million) from the sale of Chris Wood to Nottingham Forest and got one of their top earners, Jonjo Shelvey (£80,000-a-week) off the wage bill in January, too.
The likes of Javier Manquillo, Karl Darlow, Martin Dubravka, Isaac Hayden (on loan at Norwich City), Jamal Lewis, Jeff Hendrick (on loan at Reading) and Ryan Fraser will be available to buy this summer. Matt Ritchie, another of the club’s top earners, will also be out of contract in June, freeing another chunk of wages to bring in upgrades.
Do you think the club will be able to navigate FFP successfully whilst bringing in the big signings they want to make – Let us know on our social media and follow us for latest North East Updates – https://linktr.ee/northeastupdates
Newcastle’s Liberal Democrats have demanded “urgent” clarity on the future of the city’s main shopping street.
With work on a promised transformation of Northumberland Street yet to begin, the city’s opposition party has called on council bosses to take action on the “increasingly shabby” area. Designs for a major refurbishment of the busy pedestrian route, which Newcastle City Council said would get under way this year, have included installing a series of 50ft lighting pillars, as well as new trees, plants, and seating.
Coun Greg Stone, the Lib Dems’ spokesperson on the city centre, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that there were concerns that the scheme may be pushed back to 2024 in order to avoid a negative impact on shops as the festive period nears. In response, the Labour-run local authority confirmed that it does still intend to start the improvements on Northumberland Street by the end of this year and was in the process of appointing a contractor.
Coun Stone complained that the high street’s paving is “looking increasingly tired”, adding: “The council has an important duty to ensure that the city centre’s public realm and the fabric of our major streets are well cared for and attractive for Newcastle’s citizens, visitors, and businesses. We have been told that renovation of Northumberland Street is on the way for several years now but works on Ridley Place and Saville Row have taken an age and there is no sign of work being imminent on Northumberland Street.
“The decision to avoid construction work during last year’s pre-Christmas trading season was understandable, but the window of opportunity for work to be done this year seems to be closing. There is an urgent need for clarity from the council leadership on their vision and delivery plans for city centre improvements.”
He added: “The Lib Dem Opposition is disappointed that the council’s ambitions for Northumberland Street seem to be more tarmac patches than high quality paving and public realm. We continue to have concerns about the Labour administration’s capacity to manage major projects for the city centre and we may be facing further long waits for delivery.”
A dramatic transformation of the city centre has been the topic of debate for years. The city council has long wanted to pedestrianise the iconic Grey Street and initial works to gradually achieve that are ongoing, but controversial proposals to remove all traffic from Blackett Street were shelved last year.
A spokesperson for Newcastle City Council said: “We are progressing our plans to redevelop Northumberland Street to strengthen its position as the region’s most vibrant high street and encourage higher footfall.
“We are in the process of selecting a contractor to deliver the works and exact details and timescales will be confirmed when this process is complete. The improvements will include full repaving of the street and the introduction of new seating, planting, trees and lighting making it a more welcoming place that can be enjoyed both day and night.
“Northumberland Street is the city’s premier shopping destination, and our plans will reinforce this, setting apart from other streets and creating an attractive destination where people want to spend time.
“The council remains committed to delivering its long-term ambition to transform the city centre into a cleaner, greener, more welcoming place that attracts visitors and investment, and where our residents can feel a sense of belonging.
“The work on Ridley Place is now complete, new street furniture will be installed on Saville Row in the coming weeks and Grey Street should be complete by summer 2024 as planned. The initial works on Northumberland Street will start later this year.”
You can now download our FREE new app to stay fully up to date with all North East related news – https://linktr.ee/northeastupdates
Follow our YouTube for some big local videos and to support us!
See local offers all over the North East on the Todays Big Deals Facebook page: Facebook Page
Raw sewage was released into open water in Newcastle more than 1,500 times in 2022, figures show.
Storm overflows normally happen when the sewage system is at risk of being overwhelmed – such as after a heavy rain, or during higher levels of groundwater.
In these cases, water companies may need to release excess water and sewage into rivers and the sea, to prevent water backing up into the streets and people’s homes.
This has an impact on the quality of our natural water sources, with some charities alleging storm overflows are being misused and under-reported.
Figures from the Environment Agency show storm overflows were used 1,637 times within Newcastle’s local authority boundaries in 2022, discharging for a total of around 4,724 hours.
All of these spills were from Northumbrian Water’s network.
Northumbrian Water saw 29,697 overspills across its network in 2022 – although 7% of the company’s facilities did not report overspill data last year.
You can now download our FREE new app to stay fully up to date with all North East related news – https://linktr.ee/northeastupdates
Follow us on YouTube for some big local videos and to support us!
See local offers all over the North East on the Todays Big Deals Facebook page: Facebook Page
The government has finally published a list of schools identified with collapse-prone concrete after days of mounting pressure.
The document, released by the Department for Education, showed the start of term had to be delayed at 19 schools – responsible for 11,150 pupils – as a result of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
The list came just before the first Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) since the summer recess, where Rishi Sunak told the Commons the government had “acted decisively to ensure the safety of children and minimise disruption to education”.
The Liberal Democrats’ education spokesperson, Munira Wilson, also called for Mr Sunak to “come clean over his own role in this crisis”, and publish evidence given to him when he was chancellor on the risks to children’s safety from RAAC.
The list of North East schools affected are:
St James Catholic School, Hebburn, South Tyneside
St John Bosco Catholic Primary School, Sunderland
St Anne’s Catholic Primary School, Harlow Green, Gateshead
St Leonard’s School, Durham
St Benet’s Catholic Primary School, Ouston
St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School, Darlington
Ferryhill School, County Durham
Each school listed will be closed throughout this first week of September!
You can now download our FREE new app to stay fully up to date with all North East related news – https://linktr.ee/northeastupdates
Follow our YouTube for some big local videos and to support us!
See local offers all over the North East on the Todays Big Deals Facebook page: Facebook Page
-
Best of North East2 years agoTop 10: Date Ideas In Newcastle
-
Sports2 years agoNewcastle transfer rumours as January window approaches
-
Featured5 months agoPopular Restaurant forced to close – Statement released!
-
News2 years agoLocal mum left with serious injuries after being spiked
-
Featured2 years agoNorth-East Collection Points For Ukraine Donations
-
Featured4 months agoWet N Wild – Exploring the abandoned Water Park – See before and After pictures!
-
Sports2 years agoRumours: How could Newcastle line-up after the January transfer window?
-
Featured6 months agoNewcastle United to Reveal New Shirt Sponsor?