With Sandro Tonali set to be announced as a new major player, will Newcastle be able to make more high-profile signings this summer?
Newcastle United will return to the Champions League for the first time in 20 years in the 2023/24 season, and have already kickstarted their summer transfer window with the imminent signing Sandro Tonali from AC Milan.
The Italian will join for more than £50m, and while he will bolster Eddie Howe's midfield, there are concerns at St. James' Park that after two seasons of major spending, the club could soon risk breaking the Premier League's Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
Previously, transfer windows were something to be endured rather than enjoyed by Newcastle fans, and while many would love more big-money deals in the coming weeks, is that actually realistic?
The Premier League's FFP rules dictate that a club must not make a loss of more than £105m over a three-year rolling period, putting Newcastle's future spending into jeopardy considering their turnover isn't as high as other elite sides in England's top tier.
While their turnover has considerably increased from an estimated £140m coming in annually when Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund initially acquired Newcastle in Autumn 2021, the club's net spend over the past two seasons has totalled £260m.
This means their hands are somewhat tied for future campaigns, with the Premier League deeming their spending as somewhat unsustainable and therefore limiting the Magpies as to how much they can spend.
As FourFourTwo's Adam Clery highlights in the video above, Newcastle's initial transfer budget would have only been around £50m this window.
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Sandro Tonali is expected to be Newcastle's first major signing of the summer (Image credit: Getty)
However, that is before factoring in a new £25m shirt sponsorship deal the club have secured with Saudi organisation Sela. At a conservative estimate, this takes them into the £70m-£80m spending bracket. Possibly even beyond.
Add in the extra revenue and commercial deals generated by qualifying for the Champions League puts them firmly over the £100m mark this summer in terms of available spend.
Without player sales adding to this fund, and with the club likely to keep some in reserve in case any major surgery is needed on the squad in January, it's unlikely they'll have broken that barrier by the time the summer transfer window closes.
But given their previous history of going after their top targets, and not being afraid to push right to the limit of what FFP will allow, it's equally possible they could surpass last summers spend of £120m if they feel the market is right for it.
Regardless, while the club are always keen to play down their spending power when asked, and readily admit they have a lot to learn at this level, if there's one thing they've learned that the likes of Chelsea or Everton haven't, it's that it isn't how much you spend, it's how well you spend it.
Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.
