Kieran Maguire: Everton still at risk of FFP punishment amid behind-the-scenes source reveal
Real-time monitoring of club finances by an independent regulator will not completely eliminate the risk of clubs like Everton falling foul of financial fair play rules.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the latest news from behind the scenes ahead of the launch of the independent regulator.
Football Insider revealed in December that the government are set to outline the remit of the third-party body in a white paper before the end of January.
And a source told this site on Wednesday (4 December) that real-time monitoring is set to be among the powers that the regulator will possess.
A similar system is in place in Uefa and the EFL’s financial structures, allowing the governing bodies to assess club finances on a live basis rather than at the end of an accounting period.
But Maguire does not anticipate that the likes of Everton, who have lost £373m in the last three years and have only narrowly escaped punishment under the terms of FFP, will be bulletproof under the new model.
“Real-time monitoring will allow the independent regulator to have a more up-to-date analysis of the finances of individual clubs,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“It won’t necessarily have the ability to stop clubs from breaching FFP because there are certain costs which are exempt from those spending rules.
“There are also differences in the way that we account for certain issues. FFP, for example, is based on the amortisation charge. That doesn’t actually tally with cash flow.
“You may be paying for a transfer over the course of two or three years but the player may have signed a five-year contract.
“The player’s fee, in that example, will be split over that length of time as far as the accounts are concerned.“
In other news, pundit fears Everton set for “massive” financial blow after source’s Frank Lampard update.