Report: Premier League clubs vote against January loan transfer ban

The clubs in the Premier League have voted against the plans to ban teams from loaning players between ownership groups, meaning Newcastle United can take players on loan from PIF-owned clubs, like Ruben Neves for example.

Things have changed a lot in the last 20 years in English football. Since the Roman Abramovich regime at Chelsea, and the Abu Dhabi investment in Manchester City, we have now seen many top clubs taken over by wealthy owners.

Tottenham Hotspur are still holding on to their current ownership under the ENIC group and Daniel Levy‘s stewardship as chairman, though how long that continues remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, Newcastle United were recently taken over by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) and have enjoyed relative success in the early days of that ownership, with a Carabao Cup final and Champions League qualification achieved last season.

Clubs allowed to loan within ownership groups

There has long been a debate about whether clubs whose owners also have a share in other clubs abroad, would be allowed to move players between the two sides. Now, according to Fabrizio Romano, the Premier League clubs have voted against banning such activity.

He wrote: “Premier League clubs have voted against ban on clubs loaning players from within the same ownership group. It means Newcastle can sign players on loan from PIF-owned clubs — and same for other clubs like Crystal Palace with Lyon and similar situations.”

Ruben Neves is one such player who has been strongly linked with a move to Newcastle in January, and the Portuguese midfielder has also been put forward as a target for Spurs (TEAMtalk).

Now, however, Newcastle may well hold an advantage in the race for Neves, as they could theoretically use their relationship with Al-Hilal to facilitate the loan move in the winter transfer window.

Spurs Web Opinion

This feels like a very dangerous precedent to be setting, and I fear it will lead to even more murky transfer deals. What’s to stop a player from moving to Saudi Arabia to get the big wages, and then still coming back to play in England anyway?

With all the talk of shady transfers of late, this feels like a big step backwards in the battle to gain some transparency and legitimacy in the game.