Manchester City and Newcastle United will undoubtedly be battling hard on the pitch this afternoon but, off it, they are perhaps as close as two teams in the same league could possibly be.

In 2021, the Premier League introduced Association Party Transaction (APT) rules following Newcastle's takeover from the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF). It was these same rules which would cause a headache for City when they blocked new sponsorship deals with Etihad Airways and First Abu Dhabi Bank.

So, City decided to take up the attack on the Premier League with the help of Newcastle and the rewards were confirmed this week. An independent panel has now ruled that APT rules are void and unenforceable.

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Speaking to our colleagues at Chronicle Live, legal expert Simon Leaf believes that Newcastle have plenty of reasons to be grateful to the Blues. "The rules came about after the change of ownership from Mike Ashley back in 2021," the Mishcon de Reya partner explained.

"Those changes were largely driven because there was a fear amongst other clubs that, all of a sudden, Newcastle would be able to spend more heavily than they otherwise would have been able to do because of the perceived future commercial deals that they would be able to strike on the back of the new ownership. In reality, we have not really seen that play out, but that doesn't mean to say it wouldn't be the case in the future.

"With all of these matters, the clubs are driven by their own self-interest rather than the wider interest of the league or the good of the game because, clearly, it is not a good image for the sport or the Premier League for clubs to be in open warfare at the moment, but that's the situation we seem to find ourselves in. I think Newcastle have been sensible in letting Man City fight this particular fight but, ultimately, if Man City are successful with it, that can only be a good thing for Newcastle.

"It will be problematic for other clubs that don't have a similar type of ownership structure to Man City and Newcastle in that they have historically been more reliant on shareholder loans as a form of financing." The ruling from the panel this week means more focus will be put onto shareholder loans and could alter clubs' Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) stance; particularly those who rely on them the most, like Arsenal.