Clubs rally over swoop on Everton

THE PREMIER League are facing urgent questions from top-flight clubs over their decision to charge Everton with breaching spending rules just nine months after insisting that they had no case to answer.

The Mail on Sunday has learned that Premier League executives told the clubs at a shareholders’ meeting last March that there were no concerns about potential breaches at Goodison Park.

At a subsequent meeting last summer they were told that Everton would be permitted to sign players in the transfer window as they were working with the Premier League to ensure they were compliant.

There is a feeling at some clubs that the timing of the Premier League charge is politically motivated, with chief executive Richard Masters due to be grilled by MPs at a parliamentary hearing on sports governance this Tuesday.

Everton were shocked to be charged with spending breaches on Friday as they have been submitting all major financial transactions to the Premier League for approval for two years. But other clubs are frustrated at the timing of charges, which could impact the relegation battle for a second straight season.

Burnley and Leeds threatened legal action against the Premier League for their alleged failure to tackle Everton’s extravagance last May, but a £200million claim failed to materialise after they had reassurances their spending was permissible due to Covid allowances.

Whilst there was never any real prospect of Everton being docked points and relegated last season there is considerable anger at other clubs that the issue was not dealt with last summer, with the result that any sporting sanction will not apply to this campaign either. ‘The Everton charge is very surprising,’ an executive at another club told the MoS. ‘We sat in front of the Premier League around March last year and they categorically told us there was no case to answer.

‘Then in the summer we were told Everton could sign players as they were working together with the league to stay the right side of the line, and their Covid losses made them compliant. The Premier League made these points in open meetings and also held private meetings with individual clubs who had expressed concerns.’

The Premier League’s decision to charge Everton is based on accounts for the 2021/22 season they received on March 1, but the alleged overspending covers four years from 2018/19 to 2021/22. Under Premier League rules clubs are only permitted to lose £105m over three years, but after the pandemic the two seasons affected by Covid were put together and averaged out to arrive at the three-year figure.

Everton’s most recently published accounts for 2020/21 saw them lose £120.9m, taking three-year losses to £371.8m. They were signed off by the Premier League due to Covid.

The club are stunned to have been charged — losses for 2021/22 are understood to be far lower than previous years, informed sources estimating them at £50m to £70m.

A Premier League source explained the timing of the charge by saying they had waited until they had fully audited accounts for 202122 before making a decision.