By Kieran Maguire

1st Nov, 2023 | 6:00am

Kieran Maguire: Newcastle United pushing FFP limits as new £3m deal agreed

The deal between Newcastle United and Saudia Airlines is only just within the limitations of Financial Fair Play.

That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the value of Newcastle’s latest sponsorship deal.

The Tyneside club announced earlier this month (19 October) that they have renewed their partnership with Saudia Airlines as the club’s official airline partner.

As revealed by Football Insider (27 October), the multi-year agreement with Saudia is worth £3million a season to Newcastle.

The deal was subject to an assessment from the Premier League’s Fair Market Value panel due to the shared links between Saudi Arabia’s PIF and the airline company.

However, the £3million valuation was green-lighted by the Premier League as it matched the valuation of similar deals in the top flight.

Maguire believes the valuation is at the ‘top end of what is deemed appropriate’, but trusts that Newcastle have followed all regulations when striking the deal.

“A £3 million a year deal for an individual industry partner is certainly very much at the upper end of the scale of FFP limitations,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.

“But Newcastle can legitimately point to the fact that they’re using aircraft more than they have done historically because they’re in the Champions League and therefore they’ve got an increased profile on the back of that.

“It’s not an outrageous sum.

“Newcastle have been very sure-footed to date in terms of the way that they’ve conducted themselves in relation to sponsors.

“The figures will always be at the top end of what’s deemed to be appropriate.

“But as long as they’re at the top end as opposed to being above it, I don’t see any problems arising.“

In other news, Kieran Maguire reveals what he really thinks about Newcastle United taking Sandro Tonali legal action