The Men’s European Football Injury Index compiled by global insurance intermediary group Howden, found that Newcastle players suffered 76 injuries over the course of the campaign. Manchester United were second with 75 instances of injury over the same
Man United were found to have paid the highest price of any club in the Premier League with the club’s injury cost calculated at £39.81million. The cost is calculated by multiplying the daily base salary of the injured player by the number of days they were unavailable due to injury. Newcastle average player salaries are considerably lower than Manchester United, meaning injuries were deemed less costly in a financial sense at £20.21million. But the injuries still took their toll on Eddie Howe’s squad as they exited the Champions League at the group stage and finished seventh in the Premier League table.
On Newcastle, the report said: “Following a 21-year UEFA Champions League absence, Newcastle United topped the table in terms of injury instances (76) with Manchester United close behind at an average cost of EUR 630,000.
The report was published just a day after European leagues and player unions lodged a legal complaint against FIFA with the European Commission over the fixture calendar.
They allege that FIFA is abusing a dominant position under competition law in its behaviour over the calendar. They argue “unilateral” changes FIFA has made, such as the introduction of an expanded Club World Cup to start next summer, have harmed the economic interests of domestic leagues and jeopardised player welfare