What Newcastle United's 16 rivals argued about during intense Premier League meeting

Newcastle United's rivals argued that they faced "wage inflation" on Premier League transfers had Associated Party Transaction regulations been tweaked to allow bumper commercial deals.

The fear from 16 of Newcastle's competitors was that opening the door for bigger commercial deals, with PIF boasting a lucrative portfolio of companies they could have done business with, would have cranked up the ability for Newcastle and Manchester City to offer huge pay packets.

A clutch of clubs have been frightened of Newcastle pushing on and becoming a major force since the 2021 takeover went through with only Newcastle, City, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest voting against a move to keep financial restrictions on sponsorship deals in place.

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Whether City fight back against the Premier League - having already claimed victory in court earlier this year - remains to be seen. But the truth is seven votes would have been needed to see a dramatic change on spending rules.

Newcastle would not comment on their position over the weekend but there is already a plan to help cope with PSR rules that have held United back in the last two windows. United are far from happy that despite the fact they have wealthy backers they were forced to sell Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh to avoid a points deduction.

Chronicle Live understands that had Newcastle and Man City been able to plough on with lucrative deals, it would have raised the stakes on negotiations for new players. Yet the reality is that since arriving at the scene in the Premier League, PIF and Newcastle directors have worked hard to keep the wage bill realistic.

There is not one player that rakes in a £200,000 weekly pay packet yet while the top earners are sitting on around £150,000 per week, others are much lower and many squad members have been unchanged since the pre-takeover days.

Speaking on the club's efforts to stay on the right side of PSR, sporting director Paul Mitchell said this week: "I think it is a complex landscape in the world of football. Definitely for myself I probably underestimated that coming in.

"I would like to say Darren, Eddie and the team in June, in what was a very difficult situation for the club, allowed us to have a platform where we don't have a points deduction.

"They made brave and tough decisions for the benefit of the club. That is one of our responsibilities as custodians of this club.

"They did a tremendous job. Unfortunately, we lost two very talented young men, but it has put us in a position where we can continue growing and continue getting success on the pitch.

"I can't echo enough what a great job was done in June to make sure we were as financially sound and performance sound as well."