Another Everton precedent revealed as Man City face potential £50m Premier League bill

The Premier League's case against Everton in 2023 has popped up again after Manchester City's guilty verdict.

It is the biggest story to emerge out of the international break as those around the world await to hear the punishment handed down.

The Blues have been on this side of the fence before back in November 2023.

The Toffees were found to be in breach of the Profit and Sustainability rules, resulting in a points deduction in the 2023-24 season.

There was no fine awarded to the Blues, but the outcome of that case would ultimately see Burnley win a lawsuit, meaning Everton had to pay £35million to the Clarets.

However, the Premier League had sought for Everton to pay up the bill for their legal bills, with that precedent now being highlighted after Man City were found guilty in 114 of 115 charges.

What happened in the Premier League's attempts for Everton to pay their legal bill?

Everton and Man City have done business over the last few years, most recently with Jack Grealish.

However, Everton's legal issues against the Premier League could help the Sky Blues now.

As per the print edition of The Guardian on 1 October, the Premier League, in a separate case from the PSR breaches in 2023, looked to receive £4.9m in legal fees from Everton.

However, the league was only awarded £1.7m of that claim after Everton successfully argued against it.

The report shares that the Premier League spent 19 times more per document and five times more per witness than Everton during the case.

A fact the Toffees' lawyers used to argue against the full award.

Now, with City's situation, the Premier League may seek to recover the cost of their legal fees again.

According to the Guardian, upwards of £70m in fees is the expected cost put forth by the league in the case against the Etihad Stadium side.

With lawyers telling the outlet that the winning party could receive up to 70 per cent of their costs from the losing side.

This means the Premier League could be awarded up to £50m should they be successful.

Could Manchester City use Everton's precedent against the Premier League?

Manchester City will no doubt look at Everton's precedent, with the Toffees only being asked to pay approximately 35 per cent of what the league sought.

The Manchester side are undoubtedly set to be mixed up in various lawsuits and they will want to limit how much they end up paying out.

However, whether or not Everton's argument against the Premier League which saw only a portion of the request awarded can be used depends on City's spending.

If the Premier League spent more than the Citizens throughout the case, then there could be similarities between the two.