Gary Neville has slammed rules and regulations that he believes is holding Premier League teams back from moving to the next level.
Speaking ahead of Newcastle United's home tie against Tottenham Hotspur, Neville told a Super Sunday panel that Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) are 'holding back' clubs such as Newcastle from investing in their squads.
Neville queried how the current rules can possibly work, with the world's richest club – Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund-backed (PIF) Newcastle – barely able to spend on new first-team players this summer.
Neville told his co-panel: ‘PSR was never designed so clubs would have to ell their best academy players.
'Something needs to change dramatically in the next 12 months in terms of the rules.
Gary Neville has criticised PSR for preventing Premier League teams from investing
‘PSR needs changing so Newcastle can get to the level of City and other clubs. We can't just keep a thumb on clubs heads. We can’t keep holding Newcastle back and we're holding them back at this time.
Co-panellist, Jamie Carragher, agreed, saying Newcastle are currently victims of circumstance.
‘I feel for Newcastle,' Carragher said. 'They've got the money but it's almost at the wrong time with the FFP rules now. They might have to sell big players to bring that revenue in.
‘I think a bigger problem for them is if they got beat today they'll go into the international break with a lot of negativity.
There have been constant questions around the feasibility of this spending and its adherence to the Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR), but Chelsea maintain they are acting within the regulations.
Currently, a club's PSR figure is calculated by creating an adjusted pre-tax profit/ loss calculation over a three-year period.
PSR turns up a different figure from the one announced in annual accounts due, as it isn't affected by allowable expenditures such as money invested into women's football, their academies, community development or depreciation of certain assets.
Club revenues and commercial income also impact a club's PSR figure, as does player trading, and are reasons why club's such as Chelsea, can still invest heavily in their squads.
Newcastle's manager, Eddie Howe, was drawn on the subject in his pre-match press conference before the game, saying:
'The biggest change, the inability to spend, and our need to comply with rules to prevent a points deduction.
'Of course that impacts the ability to progress the club as quickly as maybe they wanted to.
'I don't think the dream dies, necessarily, it takes a lot longer. We have got to build our revenue streams, that is the biggest thing.