Everton to find PSR loophole in Burnley legal battle as appeal chances rated - Stefan Borson
That is according to former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider that lawyers may be able to take advantage of a loophole in the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
With the Toffees being found guilty of breaching PSR in 2023, the club were handed a 10-point deduction, later reduced to six, in the same season that the Clarets were relegated to the Championship.
It has been claimed that had Everton not breached PSR, it would have been they who were relegated, rather than Burnley, who are now due compensation in the realms of £40million.
Burnley's argument has been successful, with the Toffees being ordered to pay that compensation, but there is still room for an appeal. It is not known how long this process could take.
Stefan Borson, however, believes that Everton could have a strong case in their appeal, and that the £40m may not need to be paid afterall.
Everton's PSR breach not confirmed until after Burnley's relegation
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson believes that, due to the wording of the current rules, the Toffees could argue their way out of this legal battle.
"There's not no chance. Any appeal is difficult, especially where you're trying to overturn the whole thing, because I think realistically, it's going to be very hard to overturn Quantum," he said.
"I don't think there's any claim unless Burnley, as they have done in the first hearing, can prove that to the necessary balance of probabilities.
"There is no loss unless they can prove that Everton's breach caused their relegation. The only way to do that is to say that had Everton not breached, then Everton would have got four or fewer points.
"I think it's unlikely that Everton wins substantially on quantification. They might reduce one or two elements by a few million quid here or there, but the reality is £25m has been awarded. Even if it was quite a lot less, by the time you add on the interest, it grows quite quickly.
"Let's say that a PSR breach can cause relegation, and, therefore, they've lost that argument. I think they've got a chance on a technical argument about the rules and how the rules work.
"Logically, because you can cure any PSR breach all the way through until midnight on the 30 June, you can't say that there is a breach of PSR until that time, which means that there is no breach during the season. So
"As of the 22 May, 2022, when Burnley are relegated, Everton are not in breach. That's only crystallised on the 1 July, 2022. And therefore the argument goes, there's no causation because you can't have a loss for something that hasn't yet occurred."
Everton appeal on a 'coin flip', says Stefan Borson
Despite initially giving the Toffees very little hope of appealing against the decision, the more Borson digs into the situation, the more he believes that an appeal could be successful.
"As I was writing about it, I got to 50-50 on it. I started off probably thinking Everton had 25 to 35 per cent chance - probably unlikely. There's something in the argument.
"It's normally whose lawyers perform better on the day and whose lawyers have articulated their argument just a bit better. That's why I think it might be a coin flip at the end of the day."
That will certainly be music to the ears of those at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, with the situation entirely more complicated due to the recent change of ownership as well.
Farhad Moshiri could once again be dragged back in with the club, with Everton breaching PSR under his watch all those years ago.