The suspension of Sandro Tonali has implications that were hitherto unsuspected. The midfielder is banned from playing for 10 months (until August 2024) for illegal sports betting. The pill of €70 million paid for the Italian has barely been swallowed, Newcastle needs a reinforcement in the midfield in order to be able to play in all the tables in which it is engaged, in particular the Premier and the Champions League. A name very quickly emerged from the starting blocks in the person of Ruben Neves (26 years old).
Portuguese has three serious advantages. Firstly, there is that of knowing the English championship perfectly, he who played at Wolverhampton in 2017 and 2023. The second is the player’s desire to return to England after he was transferred from Wolves to Al-Hilal last summer against €55 million. After 17 appearances with the Saudi club, Neves is already nostalgic for the lush lawns and wants to leave. The last strong point of this file is that Newcastle and Al-Hilal have the same owners, namely the PIF, the public investment fund of the Saudi state.
Ruben Neves’ loan to Newcastle questioned
It’s practical but increasingly frowned upon by other Premier League competitors. Some see it as a form of unfair competition and above all a breach of the rules relating to multi-club ownership. However, faced with the threat that this may represent, the Premier League has already established certain measures but this concerns more transfers and not loans. This is precisely what Ruben Neves would like to benefit from, but that was without counting on the next meeting of the Premier League on November 21.
According to The Telegraph, discussions have intensified in recent days in order to take a preventive measure (on November 21) and put an end to these loans between clubs owned by the same owner, before finding a longer-term solution. Already this summer, the Magpies had to demonstrate the fact of having sold Allan Saint-Maximin “at its fair market value” to the Al-Ahli club, also owned by the PIF, and will therefore have to find another solution or a other player than Ruben Neves. They are not the only ones concerned of course since Manchester City, for a decade already, and now Chelsea, have been using this same process.
