Kieran Maguire rubbishes official £86m Everton claim – ‘it’s disingenuous’
Everton may have overestimated the financial impact of Covid in their recent accounts.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the Toffees’ figures for 2020-21.
In the 48-page document, which was made public on Tuesday (29 March), the club revealed a £103million shortfall.
This leaves them with losses of £372m over the last three years, over three times the amount they are allowed to lose under financial fair play rules.
But losses incurred from Covid, which Everton claim stand at £86m in 2020-21, will be factored into the Premier League’s analysis of their FFP situation.
Maguire, however, argues that the Merseysiders may have attributed too much of their losses to the pandemic.
“Pre-Covid, the club was generating £14m per year in ticket sales,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“So, to go from that to £86m is a bit of a leap. There have been additional costs incurred, however.
“The club is claiming that Covid has softened the transfer market which has meant they have not been successful with player sales.
“But that works both ways because it also meant they were able to buy players more cheaply as well, which has not been mentioned in the accounts.
“There have been lots of transfers that simply haven’t worked. To say that is entirely because of Covid is slightly disingenuous.”
Everton also plan to chalk up large portions of their losses to costs associated with the construction of the new Bramley Moore Dock stadium.
Frank Lampard’s relegation-threatened side are in action at West Ham today (3 April).
In other news, West Ham tipped for £60m Dominic Calvert-Lewin swoop after “crazy” Everton update.