21 November 2023 , 20:46
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Chelsea and Manchester City were two of the eight teams that allegedly voted against a temporary ban on Premier League clubs signing players on loan from associated teams.
The proposal, which was voted on at a Premier League shareholders' meeting on Tuesday, would have prevented Newcastle - who are owned by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund - from signing players currently based in the Saudi Pro League in the January transfer window.
However, the motion wasn't passed as it failed to meet the required threshold of 14 votes. 12 clubs voted in favour of the motion, but a handful of clubs did not - and they have now been named.
As per a new report from The Guardian, the clubs that allegedly voted against the temporary ban were: Chelsea, Manchester City, Newcastle, Sheffield United, Everton, Wolves, Burnley and Nottingham Forest. The report goes on to outline that there was anger among some of the clubs that Saudi-owned Sheffield United had reportedly voted against the motion.
The temporary ban was proposed by Premier League clubs after the PIF acquired four teams in the Saudi Pro League over the summer: Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr. The PIF completed their buyout of Newcastle in October 2021.
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Newcastle have been heavily linked with Al-Hilal midfielder Ruben Neves in recent weeks after the Magpies' marquee summer signing, Sandro Tonali, was banned for 10 months for breaching betting rules.
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Newcastle are now free to sign players on loan from other clubs owned by the Saudi Arabia Public Fund Investment (Getty)But Neves, who only joined the Saudi Pro League outfit in a £47million deal last summer, has no interest in returning to England in January as he is content with life in the Middle East.
Other Premier League clubs could also benefit from the rule with many of the teams who voted against the ban are part of multi-club ownership models. Manchester United could join that pool if Sir Jim Ratcliffe - the owner of Ligue 1 outfit OGC Nice - is successful in acquiring a 25 per cent stake in his boyhood club.
Other topics up for discussion at the meeting, which took place in a London hotel, included proposals for the new EFL deal and the recent decision from an independent panel to dock 10 points from Everton, who have since dropped into the relegation zone.