Kieran Maguire: Everton could be in ‘breach of contract’ amid £300m ruling body reveal
Everton may find themselves in “breach of contract” if the Premier League is forced to pause amid a spike in Covid-19 cases.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the pandemic’s fiscal effect on the top-flight.
Premier League games, including the Toffees’ clash with Leicester City, were cancelled en masse last weekend.
Sky Sports reported last Saturday (18 December) that Premier League clubs’ managers and captains are due to hold talks today (20 December).
It is understood that measures to deal with the resurgence in Covid cases will be high on the agenda.
Maguire claims Everton will want to avoid a repeat of the situation that cost top-flight sides a collective £300million the last time the league juddered to a halt,
“If there is a pause, Premier League clubs are likely to be in breach of contract,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“We saw last time, that end up costing the clubs somewhere around £300m.
“That rebate looks as though it is being spread over three years but it is still at a time when clubs are short on cash.
“The money they lost from playing the whole of 2020-21 behind closed doors was somewhere in the region of £700m in matchday receipts.
“Everton are lucky to have a very wealthy owner who can plug the gaps from a cash flow point of view.
“But it’s still restrictive in terms of the club going forward.“
Any break in fixtures would likely be self-imposed at this stage as Whitehall are reportedly desperate to avoid cancelling sporting events.
Though they are plagued by injuries, the Toffees themselves have managed to stay largely Covid-free.
In other news, Everton tipped to sign five top-class players in January after Farhad Moshiri update.