Newcastle stuck in talks with Toon stars over ‘extraordinary’ Mike Ashley agreement - Report

As revealed by The Mail, Newcastle are in discussions with players over taking a 40% cut due to ‘extraordinary’ bonuses that were set by Mike Ashley six years ago. 

Upon our promotion to the Premier League in 2017, the squad were unhappy with the bonuses they would receive, so Ashley stepped in and offered £20m if we won the FA Cup as well as other ‘huge’ sums based on League position. 

Now, with the Magpies enjoying a fourth-placed finish following the Saudi-backed takeover, these bonuses are still in place and are ‘absolutely hammering’ us financially and even impacting our fight against FFP.

Those at the top are now in talks with the players over reducing these bonuses by 40%, as it is limiting what we can spend in the transfer market, but the squad are reluctant to agree. 

With our opening fixture against Aston Villa right around the corner, this is the last thing Eddie Howe will want to deal with. Hopefully this does not prove to be a distraction in the coming weeks and a solution is found.