United PSR worries

GM football fans. Route One here, and we’re covering Newcastle owner departure, Man United’s PSR concerns and much more. First time reading? Sign up here.

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Head Start

Newcastle co-owners leave the club

Newcastle co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi are to leave the club after three years.

The pair were key to the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) purchase of an 80% stake in Newcastle for £300 million in 2021.

Their remaining 6% share of the club will sold to the PIF and/or the Reuben family.

Despite initial concerns from fans and Amnesty International, the takeover so far is seen as a success…

• After the takeover, Newcastle spent £92 million in the first transfer window - more than any other club in Europe.

• The Women’s team went full-time for the first time and secured back-to-back promotions into the FA Women’s Championship.

• The PIF spent £10 million on renovations to the training ground.

That’s a huge improvement from the previous owner Mike Ashley’s period of underinvestment in the club. During his 14 years in charge, Newcastle finished in the top seven in the Premier League on one occasion…

… whereas Newcastle have finished in the top seven on all three occasions since the PIF takeover.

What does this mean for Newcastle?

It’s unlikely to change much in the short term. Staveley’s day-to-day involvement in running the club lessened in her final year as chief executive Darren Eales stepped in.

Plus, the couple’s departure has been brewing since a Companies House filing showed that Staveley resigned as a director from 20 Newcastle-related companies in March.

Having ensured that Newcastle remained on the right side of the profit and sustainability rules after selling Yankuba Minteh and Elliot Anderson for a combined £60, it appeared Staveley’s work at St James’ Park was done.

After brokering the sale of Manchester City and Newcastle, there’s no doubt we’ll see her name prop up again in future.

Plus…

Colombia will play Argentina in the Copa America final on Sunday after beating Uruguay (More)

Kylian Mbappé will wear the number 9 shirt at Real Madrid (More)

The mayor of Marseille has demanded that the club not sign Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood (More)

Sky Sports will not run Sky Sports Fantasy Football for the first time in 15 years (More)

Reading takeover edges closer as former Wycombe owner enter final talks (More)

Stats Zone

Netherlands 1 - 2 England (Highlights)

_{Xavi Simmons 7’ | Harry Kane 18’ (P), Ollie Watkins 90’}

→ England have now reached the final in two of their four major tournaments under Gareth Southgate – they had only done so in one of their previous 23 World Cup/EURO appearances.

→ It’s the first time that England are through to a major tournament final on foreign soil.

→ Ollie Watkins is the first substitute to score a 90th-minute winning goal in a Euro knockout tie.

→ Harry Kane is the first-ever Englishman to score 15 goals at major international tournaments.

→ England are the first side in Euro history to reach the final despite trailing in both the quarter-final and semi-final en route.

→ England at Euro 2024 will be the first team in EURO/World Cup history to face five different countries all beginning with the same letter in a single tournament (Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Spain).

Poll

Premier League

Manchester United’s £71m losses put the club in PSR crosshairs

Manchester United have posted a net loss of £71.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024.

To put that into perspective, United had losses of £5.6 million for the same period last year.

United say that consultancy fees for Sir Jim Racliffe’s purchase of 27.7% of the club amounted to £30.3 million, contributing to the net loss figure.

The problem is… the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) allow clubs to lose £105 million over a three-year period.

Yet, with the exceptionally expensive last three months, United’s total loss over last season’s three-year PSR cycle currently stands at £271.4 million.

So, is it even possible for United to comply with PSR? 

The short answer is, yes. Club sources have been quick to say that they aren’t breaking a sweat just yet as they still have three months to comply with PSR.

United’s saving grace is that they can make allowances on their losses by claiming on infrastructure spending, women’s football, community work and Covid-19-related losses.

And it was reported last week that United plan on cutting 250 jobs which would save the club around £10 million a year.

Only time will tell if United avoid the heavy hand of PSR… but all we know for sure is those £30 million consultants will be treating themselves to a great summer holiday.

Off The Pitch

🤝 NATO leaders gather for the 75th-anniversary summit (More)

🎬 Shrek 5 is set for release in July 2026 (More)

☀️ Drones are being deployed to crack down on sunbed hoggers on beaches in Greece (More)

🧘 Campaigners for a four-day working week are preparing a new project after the success of the first trial (More)

📦 A postage stamp described as the most valuable in the UK has been put up for sale for £650,000 (More)

Photo of the Day

Ollie Watkins. In 2014, Ollie Watkins was playing for Weston-super-mare in Tier 6 of English football. Ten years later, he scores a last-minute winner to send England through to the Euro 2024 final.

Yesterday’s Poll

Yesterday, we asked you: Do you think multi-club ownership is a good or bad thing for football?

Routers voted that multi-club ownership is ‘bad’ for football.

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 👍 Good (23%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 👎 Bad (77%)

Your punditry takes:

• 👎 James M voted ‘Bad’: “Undoubtedly bad for football from an integrity perspective. Gives clubs the ability to make transfers massively over or under their true market value to benefit themselves and obviously raises serious fair-play concerns when it comes to two clubs with the same owner playing each other in competitive matches.”

• 👍 Nicola T voted ‘Good’: “We in England and beyond get to see exciting talent from more foreign countries. Yes English talent may suffer but come on we don't attack as a whole like European countries do.”

• 👎 M Nordemann voted ‘Bad’: “The rich get richer and it's another step on the road to a European Super League.”

Around The Football World

🇦🇷 Argentina took a shot at music artist Drake after the Canadian lost $300,000 on a bet his country would beat the defending champions. Their official X account referenced rap rival Kendrick Lamar's song (More)

🇩🇪 Thomas Muller has decided to retire from international football, having played 131 international matches and scored 45 goals (More)

🇮🇪 Heimir Hallgrimsson has been appointed as the new head coach of the Republic of Ireland (More)

🇧🇷 Aston Villa have confirmed that Phillippe Coutinho has joined his child-hood club Vasco da Gama on a season-long loan (More)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Brighton Women have appointed the Melbourne City manager Dario Vidosic as their new head coach on a contract until 2027 (More)

🇸🇦 Simone Inzaghi has rejected a €20-million-a-year contract from Al Nassr and has agreed to an extension with Inter Milan worth €6.5 million per year (More)

Extra Time

The sound after Ollie Watkins’ last-minute goal was off the charts.

Mesut Ozil’s body transformation has everyone talking.

Lamin Yamal’s father reacts to his son’s wondergoal for Spain.

Lionel Messi’s first goal in the 2024 Copa America.

The moment Alvaro Morata was injured by a security guard.

TalkSport reacts to Marseille’s mayor attempting to block Mason Greenwood’s transfer.

Podcast: Owen Hargreaves says he was the fastest player in every team he played at.

Game Face On

Question: At 38 years 231 days, who is the oldest outfield player to play in a Euro and World Cup semi-final?

Clue: He’s featured in Euro 2024. 

*Correction from yesterday’s trivia: Brentford don’t have the most Premier League call-ups… Arsenal and Manchester City have one more (8) than Brentford. Yesterday’s question was meant to be a multiple-choice… whoops. Thanks to those of you who reached out.

Scroll below for the answer.

On Today

CRICKET

Test Series: England vs West Indies (10:15 BST)

Womens T20: England W vs New Zealand W 3rd T20 (18:30 BST)

*EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.

Answer

Jesús Navas. He has surpassed Fritz Walter (37 years 236 days) and Gunnar Gren (37 years 236 days), who faced each other in the 1958 World Cup semi-final.

Hottest Take of the Day

Frank J from Bedfordshire submitted today’s Hottest Take: Bukayo Saka is top three players in the world right now.

Submit another Hot Take of the Day here.