Everton: Relegation exodus to be rescued by £41million boost – Sky Sports pundit
We’re delighted to welcome former Everton striker Kevin Campbell as our exclusive columnist. Each week the former Toffees captain will be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Goodison Park…
Kevin Campbell is confident that Everton would “bounce straight back” if relegated with parachute payments coming to the rescue.
The Toffees are deeply embroiled in a fight against the drop again, and a lack of relegation clauses in players’ deals has been tipped to cause a “financial disaster” [Telegraph, 8 March] if they go down, but the first year’s worth of cash if relegated would amount to around £41million, out of £90million over three seasons [BBC Sport, 23 June].
Sky Sports pundit Campbell is reassured that with Sean Dyche in charge and the rescue money on the cards if necessary fears around player contracts and a long-term absence from the top flight are overblown.
He exclusively told Goodison News: “If I’m honest, if the worst were to happen you’ve got the parachute payments to keep the club there.
“But you would expect Everton to bounce straight back.
“Because if everyone’s on the same money etc. then you expect [it to be] ‘We’re down but we’re not out. We’ve got to get promotion straight away’.
“Bringing Sean Dyche and stuff in, I think they’re going to be fine.”
Everton still have a fighting chance of staying up with Dyche in charge, but defeat at Manchester United on Saturday (8 April) has survival looking somewhat shaky again.
The Toffees would be far from the first club who would be expected to rebound immediately, but plenty of those who went before didn’t pull it off, parachute payments or not.
Whether the club could keep hold of stars such as Amadou Onana, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jordan Pickford in the Championship, regardless of affordability, is open to serious question, so avoiding the situation altogether remains vital with the wider finances at Goodison Park still very much up in the air.