Everton have 'top lawyers' involved to knock £10m off Burnley payment
That is according to former Toffees chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that his former club are taking their response to the Premier League's ruling "very seriously."
This comes after the Merseysiders have been ordered to pay £35m in compensation to Burnley after breaching PSR restrictions back in 2021-22, when they narrowly stayed up at the Clarets' expense.
Wyness made it clear that Everton should be focusing their appeal on the total sum of their financial punishment, rather than their need to pay it altogether.
His former club received a six-point deduction for their breach back in 2022-23, but Burnley have successfully argued that the deduction should have come into effect in the previous campaign.
Wyness has emphasised that Everton are fighting against the odds in terms of their appeal, but still believes they have taken the correct course of action by protesting the decision.
Keith Wyness blasts interest payments in Everton verdict
Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – has made it clear that he is "amazed" by the interest level that the club have been charged as part of their punishment.
The Toffees have been ordered to pay £9.1m in interest as part of their compensation package to Burnley, a figure which Wyness simply cannot believe.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, he suggested that the chances of a successful appeal are currently stacked against Everton at "30/70."
"It's a really difficult one because I'd like them to go and fight this because I think there are so many things that are wrong with this whole situation," he said.
"But first of all, in terms of the appeal, I came down with my own thoughts that perhaps they should be appealing against the quantum, that they have got to pay Burnley rather than the actual account.
"They might get it down to something like £10m. I'm amazed at the interest rate that they've been charged on this payment to Burnley; it seems to be very, very high rates. It just doesn't seem right.
"Normally in an appeal, you've got to be correct either on a point of law or fact. It's going to be difficult. I noticed that Everton have appointed really top lawyers in Slaughter and May, taking over from Pinsent Masons.
"They're taking this very, very seriously. It's going to be a fine argument. Before I thought it was 50-50, and I tend to agree with Stephen Borson now that it's going towards more of a 30-70 against Everton at the moment."
Stefan Borson backs Everton to exploit loophole in Burnley case
Former Manchester City financial advisor Stefan Borson told Football Insider last week that Everton may yet be able to exploit a loophole in the PSR rules to be successful in their appeal.
The football finance expert made it clear that because clubs can "cure" any PSR breach up until the midnight deadline on 30 June, an official breach cannot be noted until then.
Burnley were relegated on 22 May, at a time when Borson emphasised that Everton were not in breach of the rules.
He then suggested that it could be argued that the breach didn't effect Burnley, beacuse it hadn't occurred by the time their relegation was sealed.