By George Overhill

24th May, 2023 | 12:40pm

Everton accused of 'egregious' behaviour amid £378million losses by Simon Jordan amid 'something to face' prediction

Simon Jordan believes Everton will have “something to face” when it comes to their hearing over the alleged breach of profit and sustainability regulations after accusing the club of “egregious accountancy”.

The Toffees have maintained throughout that they have not broken any rules despite the accounts showing hundreds of millions in losses over the past three years, pointing to Covid-19 allowances and the new stadium development among other explanations.

But after the report that relegation rivals were gearing up to launch legal action for compensation should Sean Dyche succeed in keeping the club up [Daily Mail, 16 May], Jordan has delivered a scathing summary of what he believes is behind the financial situation.

Speaking live on talkSPORT on Tuesday morning (23 May, 7m 15s) the former Crystal Palace chairman said: “Now, Everton and their potential challenges on where the money came from, how they’ve managed to go round Financial Fair Play with what I consider to be egregious accountancy around transfer values that have underpinned their ability to come just beneath the FFP limits.

“With £378million top-line losses, and after all the allowable adjustments, including the recalibration of the transfer squad based upon the Covid depreciation of player values.”

As he licked his finger and held it in the air he went on: “I think that’s a bit like, ‘Okay fine, yeah how do we get around that situation?’ I think they’ll have something to face.”

Heavy

When the independent commission eventually hears the Everton case more clarity will emerge, but Jordan has certainly nailed his colours to the mast in terms of how he expects things to go.

His claim is that the club have essentially plucked player valuations out of thin air and chalked up huge losses based on an inability to sell players for that much during the pandemic, in order to circumvent the rules.

If that is the case then it would likely mean trouble for the Toffees on a number of levels, but it sounds like the sort of grey area that is difficult to prove with certainty either way.

Some sort of ruling will have to be reached when the time comes or the situation will drag on and on, but the club must have had some basis for coming up with the figures they have, and if their position remains that they will argue their case robustly then they presumably also have some confidence the numbers are sound.

The Premier League must beg to differ somewhere along the line to have referred the club to the commission, although Jordan’s claim relates to a period over a year ago, prior to the point when the league was giving everyone else assurances that Everton were above board.

So, he has a strong opinion but it is impossible to say for certain one way or the other at this stage until the facts come out.