Gary Neville believes Newcastle United’s controversial Saudi-backed takeover may be the last of its kind in the Premier League. Football club ownership is under the microscope after the UK Government sanctioned Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich due to his alleged association with Vladimir Putin.
Debate has heightened regarding the top-flight’s owners’ and directors’ test, with the Magpies’ structure coming under scrutiny before, during and after the completion of the £300million deal in October. Eddie Howe deflected questions from journalists in recent weeks regarding Saudi Arabia - causing criticism to fall his way.
Neville called for an independent regulator to enter English football in the aftermath of the European Super League fiasco - a body he still believes needs introduced. The Manchester United legend thinks fan discontent has reached such a level that a Newcastle-style takeover will be impossible in the future.
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Speaking on the Overlap, he said: “We’ve now got a huge issue emerging where football clubs are being bought by wealth from rogue states. These social, geopolitical issues that exist in society, football is not going to be able to ignore anymore because it is on its doorstep. I think it's gonna be a lot harder to get into English football in the future.
“It isn’t just about Chelsea anymore. It's a wider point now around football ownership in this country. Off what's happened at Chelsea, there are going to be a lot more questions asked in the future and higher hurdles are going to have to be met.
“Most of Tuchel’s press conferences in the next five weeks are going to be about things not to do with football. Man City will get asked more questions, Eddie Howe will get pushed like you wouldn't believe… it's going to happen now because people have recognised there was a real clear, present danger and association with where the money comes from, what are the intentions of the owners were buying in? What are they doing with it?
“That’s something where the FA (and) the Premier League are going to have to act quickly and that comes with an independent regulator.”
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