Newcastle United set to be punished by UEFA rules in 2025-26 as PIF consider transfer U-turn

Newcastle missed out on European football last season, becoming only the second side in the past decade to miss out on Europe despite finishing in the top seven in the Premier League. Manchester United’s FA Cup win and eighth-place finish ultimately denied The Magpies a Conference League spot.

But next season they are guaranteed to be playing in the Conference League at the very least after winning the Carabao Cup at Wembley Stadium last month. Newcastle have higher ambitions than that as they currently sit sixth in the Premier League table, a point off the top five with a game in hand.

Fifth place is likely to be enough to qualify for next season’s Champions League under new UEFA rules, meaning sixth place is set to be enough for Europa League qualification. Seventh place may also be enough to qualify for the competition depending on the outcome of the FA Cup.

In returning to Europe, Newcastle must now adhere to UEFA rules as well as Premier League rules. The club’s return to Champions League football saw them adhere to UEFA’s financial fair play rules last season, and it is expected that the club will continue to comply next season.

But Newcastle are set to be punished by UEFA’s squad rules once again, as they were the last time they competed in the Champions League last season.

Newcastle United to be punished by UEFA’s squad rules in 2025-26

Newcastle were unable to name a full 25-man senior squad when they competed in the Champions League last season.

UEFA squad rules allow 17 players to be named in a club’s squad without any restrictions. In order to name more players in their squad, clubs must include up to eight homegrown players.

Of the eight homegrown players, at least four must be ‘club-trained’ to bring the squad to the full quota of 25. If a club are unable to fill the homegrown or club-trained player quotas, their squad sizes will be reduced accordingly.

While players born on or after January 1, 2004 - such as Lewis Hall and Lewis Miley - would not need to be included in Newcastle’s 25-man squad in order to be eligible to play in the Premier League next season, they would need to be included on their UEFA squad list.

If they are left out of the squad list, they could be named on a second ‘List B’ that must be submitted to UEFA ahead of any given matchday. ‘List B’ would include players born on or after January 1, 2004 who have been eligible to play for the club in question for an uninterrupted period of at least two years or three years including a one-year loan spell. Lewis Miley and Lewis Hall would both be eligibe to be named on that list.

An unlimited number of players can be named on ‘List B’ and they can be submitted by midnight the day before a match in order for players to be eligible to play.

Newcastle’s issue comes with the lack of club-trained first-team players in their squad. A club-trained player is a player above the age of 21 who was on the club’s books for three full seasons or 36 months between the ages of 15 and 21. As things stand, Sean Longstaff is the only first-team player who falls into that category.

Midfielder Joe White also falls into that category but is currently out on loan at MK Dons.

With Newcastle set to be unable to name four club-trained players in their UEFA squad list for next season, their squad list is set to be limited once again. But it could also force a change in thinking when it comes to transfers.

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NUFC’s transfer policy set to be impacted by Europe as Sean Longstaff future ‘uncertain’

Eddie Howe admitted there was uncertainty over Sean Longstaff’s future at Newcastle during his Friday press conference. But European qualification could see Newcastle consider a U-turn over Longstaff’s future as selling him this summer would limit Newcastle to 21 senior squad places when competing in Europe next season.

Longstaff’s contract at Newcastle was set to expire in the summer but the club triggered a clause to extend his deal until June 2026.

Last year, Newcastle had to omit Emil Krafth, Matt Ritchie, Mark Gillespie and Javier Manquillo from their Champions League squad due to the rules. And senior players could well miss out again next season with Newcastle set to bolster their squad in the summer.

When asked how European football could impact Newcastle’s transfer business, Howe said: “Yeah I think Europe will play a part in that quite how that looks I don't know because we haven't sat and had those discussions yet.

“I think there's far too much football to be played but I think we'll be in a stronger position for the better competition that we're in and our aim is to try and do as well as we can of course but I think for the current players we know that we know where we want to be what we want to try and achieve so all aims are on that at the moment.”

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