A football finance expert has criticised Newcastle United's decision to sell the leasehold at St James' Park to a company owned by the club's directors as a move that 'erodes long-term coherence'.

Professor Rob Wilson has used Newcastle's recent accountancy revelation, along with Everton's move to sell their women's team, as examples of how football clubs aren't facing up to reality or trying to solve long-term structural issues. Instead, he believes the short-term nature of such deals could impact clubs in the longer run.

Newcastle avoided a possible breach of the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) by selling the St James' lease and other property to PZ Newco Propco 1 Limited whose directors are Newcastle United directors Yasir Al Rumayyan, Abdulmajid Alhagbani and Jamie Reuben.

It enabled the club to record what on paper looked a healthy £34.7m post-tax profit, but Prof Wilson - dean at University Campus of Football Business - believes it shouldn't be seen as 'sound financial management' but instead is representative of a broken football system with clubs taking advantage of loopholes rather than getting their house in order.

Writing for City...