Ruben Neves decision made as Newcastle United & Arsenal find out outcome of Premier Leauge vote

Newcastle United are likely to miss out on signing Ruben Neves in January, regardless of the outcome of the Premier League related-party loan vote.

Premier League clubs voted against a temporary ban on related-party loan moves on Tuesday, which would have impacted The Magpies' ability to sign a number of Saudi Pro League players in January.

Neves was linked to Newcastle as a potential January loan target following Sandro Tonali's 10-month betting ban. Arsenal have also been linked with a move for the Portuguese midfielder, who joined Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal from Wolverhampton Wanderers for £47million over the summer.

The 26-year-old has since made 17 appearances for the Saudi side, scoring twice. And he is likely to remain at Al Hilal in the January transfer window.

The Athletic claim there have been no official approaches or talks regarding the player leaving the club with Neves deciding he is happy and settled in Saudi Arabia.

Newcastle and Al Hilal are both majority-owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund along with other Saudi Pro League sides Al Ahli, Al Ittihad and Al Nassr. On Tuesday, a Premier League vote on whether to impose a temporary block on related-party loans took place. Premier League clubs voted 13-7 for the ban.

For the ban to be implemented, 14 of the 20 current Premier League clubs had to vote in its favour and would have been put into practice immediately ahead of the January transfer window.

The rejection of the ban allows Newcastle to do business with the likes of Al Hilal and the other three Saudi Pro League clubs.

When asked if he would do business with Saudi Pro League clubs, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe said: "I'm open to signing players from anywhere if they're good enough and they make our team better."

On the links to Neves, Howe added: "It’s very difficult to talk about one individual player but, of course, he is a player we liked when he was at Wolves."

Howe has also been asked about the Premier League vote and the motives behind it, but the Magpies boss was reluctant to answer.

"I wouldn’t know the motives behind the rule changes coming in," Howe added. "It’s very difficult for me to give a definitive opinion, we just have to react to the changes as they come in."