PSR spending rules 'not right' at moment - Howe

Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe says the way spending rules in football are working at the moment is "not right".

The Magpies were forced to sell players in the summer to balance the books under Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh both left Tyneside for fees in excess of £30m, to Nottingham Forest and Brighton, respectively.

And Howe, speaking on former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan's podcast Up Front, admitted: "I felt really uncomfortable in the summer when we were forced to make sales of two really talented young players in Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh, against our will really for financial reasons.

"One was an academy product we'd invested in since he joined the club as a young lad. You just think, 'why are we doing this? This doesn't feel right'.

"I understand the rules to a degree. I understand the concept but I think how it is fundamentally working at the moment is not right."

Last season, Forest were deducted four points for breaching PSR in the 2022-23 campaign.

Everton had an initial 10-point deduction reduced to six, before being docked a further two points for a second breach.

While Howe understood the intention of PSR, he felt it could be applied better.

"The buying and selling of players has always been such a good thing for the game," he added.

"It brings intrigue and so much to the game, but now it's almost gone against that.

"It's purpose was to do one thing but in reality it has turned into something totally different."

When the Magpies were taken over in the October 2021 by a consortium backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, Newcastle became the richest club in the world.

PIF were worth around £320bn at the time of the takeover, but haven't been able to invest much of their wealth into the club since then.

Newcastle were one of four Premier League clubs who opposed the vote to change APT (Associated Party Transactions) rules in November, following Manchester City's lawsuit against the league.

These rules mean clubs can only agree commercial and sponsorship rules with companies that are of "fair market value".

Asked by Jordan whether he agreed with the way the current spending rules are impacting football, Howe said: "No, I don't.

"I am a believer in that anything is possible. Leicester proved in a one-off season that if you get everything right you can do incredible things.

"I stick to that and believe if we got everything right and had the season of our lives we could do unbelievable things. That drives me.

"But I think to do that consistently under the current rules is difficult."