UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has admitted that a rule that prevents clubs owned by the same group facing each other in Europe will be 'rethought' as Newcastle United explore their options.
Newcastle are looking at the multi-club model but, also, another type of structure that would enable the Magpies to work with other sides without necessarily having to buy shares in the clubs themselves. Instead, Newcastle could team up with an investment firm such as 777 Partners, who already have stakes in clubs in Spain (Sevilla), Italy (Genoa), Germany (Hertha Berlin), Brazil (Vasco da Gama), France (Red Star) and Belgium (Standard Liege).
It must be stressed that Newcastle are in the very early stages of the process, but part-owner Amanda Staveley spoke earlier this month about the importance of finding the 'right fit' with the 'changes around GBE points'. This, of course, was a reference to the difficulties young players from abroad now face in securing work permits in the UK post-Brexit and having a trusted satellite elsewhere to enable players to get the required experience is an obvious advantage to the multi-club model.
