Jack Grealish (left) returned to Everton from Manchester City on loan on transfer deadline day as Iliman Ndiaye (right) moved in the opposite direction for £65million
Jack Grealish (left) returned to Everton from Manchester City on loan on transfer deadline day as Iliman Ndiaye (right) moved in the opposite direction for £65million
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes Everton will be watching Manchester City’s case closely after the Abu Dhabi-owned club were found guilty of breaking 114 financial rules.
The Blues were given a brace of points deductions (originally 10 points, the biggest sporting sanction in English top-flight history, reduced to six on appeal and then an additional two) during the 2023/24 season for single PSR rule breaches in back-to-back years.
However, City have now been found guilty of all charges relating to breaches of Premier League financial rules between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons, with an independent commission finding that, during that time period, the club arranged “sham contracts” as well as “relying on sham agreements to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs,” as part of a scheme to disguise secret funding of more than £830million.
The club, who are owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan through the Abu Dhabi United Group, are appealing the verdict and many of their supporters appeared unrepentant in their 3-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday – their first fixture since the verdict was announced. But Maguire, who is Professor of Football Finance at the University of Liverpool Management School, told the ECHO: “Now that Manchester City have been found guilty by the Premier League panel, I would imagine Evertonians will be closely watching the next step of the equation in terms of Manchester City’s appeal. Then there will be the tariff which is set.
“Everton had one for an overspend in one season and admitted what they did. Manchester City have a significant overspend over a long period of time and have fought tooth and nail to object to the process and the verdict.
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“So, if there is not both a significant fiscal penalty and points deduction as a bare minimum, I would imagine Everton fans would be very unhappy with the outcome. The Premier League, the commission and outside interests will be watching this, as well as football fans themselves because the commission has to be seen to be independent of pressures, both inside and outside of the game.
“They have to be seen to be making a decision which is based on a full and fair appreciation of the extent of the offences and the causality of the offences. There were very damning comments that were made in the commission’s report that we would anticipate would add to the aggravating factors which will determine the significance of the penalty in terms of both the fines and the points deductions which are anticipated.”