Chris Sutton claims Manchester City ‘Ones to watch’ amid Everton punishment call
Chris Sutton has reacted to the calls from the Premier League for Everton to receive a 12-point deduction by asking what will happen to Manchester City, who have been charged with 115 breaches of Financial Fair Play rules.
The former Premier League striker admitted the club are going through a difficult time at the moment, but claimed Sean Dyche would have been aware of the situation when he took the job.
He has labelled Manchester City’s situation one to watch, as attention will turn to the harshness of their punishment after a decision is made on Everton’s charge.
Speaking on the It’s All Coming Up podcast [26 October], Sutton reacted to the news, stating: “It is a difficult time for Everton. I think that was always going to be the case, I think Sean Dyche realised the job which he was going into.
“With regard to the charges, I bet there are a lot of football fans out there who are thinking ‘Well if Everton are getting charged for this offence then what on earth is going to happen to Manchester City?’
“I think they have 115 charges to answer to, so that’s one to watch.”
Everton will set a precedent
The Premier League’s recommendation that Everton are handed a 12-point deduction if they are found guilty of financial breaches has clearly been done to set a precedent so that the rest of the league know teams will not be allowed to get away with any infringements.
A heavy punishment for their breach of the rules will deter any other clubs from risking breaches, and thus give the Premier League a tighter grip over the financial situations among their clubs.
As far as Manchester City are concerned, their investigation for 115 breaches will be taking longer than Everton’s one breach which is why they are yet to be punished, but depending on the severity of Everton’s punishment, they could find themselves in plenty of trouble.
As things stand, Everton have not been found guilty of breaching financial rules, and the club stand by their stance that they have not committed any breaches of the rules, so it will be a case of waiting to see what happens now.
In other Everton news, the club are targeting a prolific striker in January.