The Premier League's profit and sustainability rules are preventing clubs from competing with the top teams.

That is the view of John Textor, the co-owner of Crystal Palace, who spoke about the situation at Newcastle United.

The Magpies are owned by the government of Saudi Arabia, but are not able to unleash their full financial power due to FFP rules on how much they can spend relative to their income.

“It's clear that they're built to make sure that clubs who do not drive significant revenues cannot catch up," Textor told the Financial Times' business of football summit.

"It doesn't matter if you have a billion dollars of cash in a wheelbarrow - you're not allowed to spend it. Does that make any sense?

"[Evangelos] Marinakis has plenty of money to fund his team but he's not allowed to. If he spends too much and does what the fans want, somebody comes along and docks him points? That's not right.

“Financial Fair Play is a fraud of a term to say it's about sustainability. The sustainability issue is a fraudulent issue. Sustainability should be about the quality of your balance sheet - not ratios against your profit and loss. Nobody actually thinks that makes sense.

“If you have a billion pounds of cash and you're sustainable - more sustainable than most clubs in the league - you're not allowed to spend this. Everybody should be saying this. It doesn't make sense."