The representatives of multiple Newcastle United players have been left in the dark after fees the club owed them were not paid on time.
A number of agents should have received commission instalments in September and are still waiting, with no explanation provided as to what is happening or when it will be resolved.
High-profile squad members who are partially remunerated via image rights have experienced a similar delay, although Newcastle say they have recently taken steps to fix that problem.
It is believed to be a financial processing issue at ownership level — rather than cash flow or a bigger complication — and has not impacted regular wages.
Although paying agents late often occur across the industry, Newcastle’s case is unusually long and especially given it is a standard contractual obligation.
Image rights are slightly different in that an invoice must be sent and if it does not arrive promptly, that could cause a delay.
The club say deposits have now been made or are on the way and accept their communication should have been better. There are also player camps who have been unaffected or seen their situations rectified more quickly than others.
Among those involved, the matter has created some confusion because it is out of keeping with their experience at Newcastle so far and particularly considering the ownership’s wealth.
The club faces unrelated challenges in its ongoing attempts to progress on and off the pitch, while simultaneously complying with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.
It has seriously influenced their transfer activity following an initial period of heavy investment subsequent to the Saudi-led takeover in 2021.
Additionally, there are no firm developments yet on a new training ground or stadium plans.
GO DEEPER
The Newcastle United project: How is it progressing, three years on?
‘A strange look for the richest football club in the world’
Analysis by George Caulkin
If nothing else, this is a strange look for the richest football club in the world. Newcastle were never comfortable with that description in the first place but now it feels increasingly irrelevant.
In a landscape of the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR), Newcastle cannot spend the vast wealth which their majority Saudi owners can draw upon; from day one post-takeover, outsmarting rather than outspending their domestic rivals has been the mantra at St James’ Park.
For a little while, there was a bit of both. Newcastle escaped the clutches of relegation and qualified for the Champions League through a combination of significant investment, Eddie Howe’s coaching and clever recruits like Bruno Guimaraes and Sven Botman.
The last year has been more draining. On the pitch, injuries took a grip while off it, there was the destabilisation of Dan Ashworth’s departure as sporting director and Amanda Staveley as co-owner, their battle to comply with PSR brought damaging sales and two transfer windows have now elapsed without Howe’s first-team being strengthened.
With bigger picture issues such as the lack of a new training ground and stadium redevelopment still up in the air, being smarter has never felt more tough. Do Newcastle still have the desire and the leadership to do it? As Alan Shearer said in The Athletic last week, “It does feel like the great, post-takeover ‘project’ has reached a crossroads.”
Which makes it all the more peculiar that Newcastle would risk alienating both agents and their own players, the very people they must rely upon more than ever.
GO DEEPER
Alan Shearer: Newcastle are drifting and the ‘project’ is at a crossroads
(Matt McNulty/Getty Images)