Everton news as Richarlison sale flagged by watchdog as Goodison Park officials react
Former Everton striker Richarlison’s £50million transfer to Tottenham flagged the Premier League’s watchdog in regard to the club’s Financial Fair Play issues, according to the Daily Star.
The Toffees have been referred to an independent commission over an alleged FFP breach, after recording losses of £371.8million over the last three years prior to this season, which broke the maximum limit of £105million over three years. [The Guardian, 24 March]
The Daily Star (Saturday, 25 March, back page) has reported that Goodison officials believed they had cleared all dealings with the marquee sale of Richarlison on June 30, 2022, which was the cut-off day for the financial year.
They wrote: “But Everton officials believe they cleared all dealings during that period when working closely with the Premier League, including a P&S deadline-busting deal to sell Richarlison to Tottenham on the June 30, 2022, cut off for the financial year in question.
“That £50m sale – and subsequent reduction in losses – was flagged up with the league’s watch-dogs at the time.”
Oh dear
Everton would have believed that things couldn’t have got any worse after the ten-month investigation into their finances came to a close, but the way they alerted watchdogs is comical, to say the least.
The club will hope that they crossed all the t’s and dotted all the i’s in their sale of Richarlison, having worked closely with the Premier League, and hopefully, the reduction of losses by this sale won’t be taken into account when lawyers from both sides present their cases.
If the last 24 hours has confirmed anything to the Goodison Park faithful, it is that their club has been run into the ground under its current ownership and that change is desperately needed at the top of the tree.
Protests against Farhad Moshiri have been fully justified all season long, but following these financial issues, and the possibility of points deductions in the future, more can surely be expected in the coming weeks.
While the case against the Toffees rumbles on in the background, Sean Dyche must keep his attentions firmly set on helping the club avoid relegation from the Premier League this season, starting with their upcoming fixture against Tottenham on Monday, 3 April.