PL clubs can loan players from associated sides in Jan – sources

Efforts to introduce a temporary ban on Premier League teams loaning players from associated clubs failed to garner enough support at Thursday’s shareholders’ meeting, sources told ESPN.

Although the Premier League declined to confirm the exact figures, ESPN has learned that the voting ban on such loans was approved by 13 votes to 7, just shy of the threshold of 14 required to pass.

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This means Newcastle United are free to sign players from clubs also owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in January.

Saudi Arabia’s takeover of Newcastle was finalized in October 2021 and the PIF now runs four of the country’s leading clubs: Al Nassr, Al Ittihad, Al Ahli and Al Hilal.

Eddie Howe’s side have been linked with the transfer of Rúben Neves from Al-Hilal after Sandro Tonali received a ten-month suspension for breaching the rules of the game.

There are a total of 11 Premier League clubs that have similar associations, including Manchester City, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, but it is unclear which, if any, of these teams voted against the proposal.

Many teams use this internal network to send young players out on loan and the fear that this practice would be affected is said to be one of the reasons why the vote failed.