Premier League Clubs Free To Continue Making Loan Signings From Associated Clubs After Vote Takes Place

A shareholders meeting between all 20 Premier League clubs took place on Tuesday where it was decided that clubs would not be temporarily banned from signing players on loan from clubs under the same ownership.

A temporary ban was put forward so it would then be in place for the upcoming January transfer window, with a permanent proposal in place for next summer's transfer window ideally being worked on later down the line. In order for the ban to be green-lit, 14 clubs needed to vote in favour of it, but only twelve clubs chose to do so.

The eight clubs which reportedly vetoed the temporary loan ban were Newcastle United, Chelsea, Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United, Burnley, Wolves and Everton. The first five of those clubs listed are among eleven Premier League teams which currently have affiliations with other clubs outside of the league.

Manchester City are currently affiliated with twelve other clubs across multiple continents under the City Football Group, including La Liga side, Girona, Serie B side, Palermo and MLS side, New York City FC. Other Premier League teams to be affiliated with more than a single other club include Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Newcastle and Sheffield United.

Manchester United could soon be another team with affiliations to other clubs as Sir Jim Ratcliffe's minority takeover of the club is believed to be imminent. Ratcliffe's INEOS Group currently have ownership of Ligue 1 side, Nice and Swiss Challenge side, FC Lausanne-Sport.

Premier League clubs have built relations with other clubs around the world as a way of developing some of their own young talent, with loan moves for players to the associated clubs being easy to process. This makes it an effective model in providing young players with exposure to senior football.

Newcastle benefits the most from the temporary loan ban not going ahead as the club's owner and majority shareholder, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), has ownership of four of the top teams in the Saudi Pro League in Al Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad.

Many top players currently reside at those four clubs such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez, Roberto Firmino, Ruben Neves, as well as former Newcastle player, Allan Saint-Maximin. The latter's move to Al-Ahli this past summer indicates that Newcastle are able to effectively conduct transfer business with their associated clubs in the Saudi Pro League.

The possibility of Newcastle signing players this coming January is high considering the number of injuries Eddie Howe's side have endured recently. Key players such as Alexander Isak, Callum Wilson, Dan Burn, Sven Botman, Miguel Almiron, Harvey Barnes and Jacob Murphy are among those out injured at the moment.

Additionally, midfielder Sandro Tonali is currently serving a long-term ban from football after being found to have breached gambling rules and will only return to action at the start of next season.

With Tonali's absence significantly weakening Newcastle's midfield, the club has been linked with a loan move for Neves in January. However, the Portuguese midfielder is reportedly not interested in making a switch to Newcastle in two months' time and looks unlikely to depart his current side, Al-Hilal.

Newcastle have found it tough recently to compete in multiple competitions, with Howe's side losing back-to-back games in the UEFA Champions League to Borussia Dortmund and being defeated by AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League right before the international break.

The club also has a Carabao Cup quarter-final tie against Chelsea next month whilst their FA Cup campaign will begin in January, so plenty of games are to come for the Magpies and the team's current injury list will only make matters harder.

The Premier League was reportedly in agreement that there should be a ban on loan signings from associated clubs temporarily. However, the failure for there to be a two-thirds majority in the voting process amongst the 20 Premier League clubs means Newcastle are free to work on any transfer dealings in January with Al Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad.