Kieran Maguire: Club chiefs could trigger FFP workaround to bring David Moyes back to Everton
It would "not be impossible" for Everton to find a Financial Fair Play workaround and pay a £5million compensation fee to bring David Moyes back to the club.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the possibility of the 59-year-old, who managed the Toffees between 2002 and 2013, returning to Goodison.
A source told this site last Thursday (5 January) that current Everton boss Frank Lampard is close to the sack, with the Merseysiders 18th in the Premier League table and without a win in eight.
Moyes' West Ham side are only above Everton on goal difference, but The Sun reported last Friday (6 December) that the Scot is on a shortlist of candidates to replace Lampard in the dugout.
He is chairman Bill Kenwright's favoured choice but would also cost £5million in compensation.
The Toffees have lost over £370million in the last three financial years and are barely keeping their heads above water in terms of the Premier League's Financial Fair Play regulations.
But Maguire explains that Everton could theoretically rearrange their finances to make the move happen.
"Everton don't have a huge amount of wiggle room in terms of Financial Fair Play," he told Football Insider's Adam Williams.
"They would struggle to pull off transactions such as the very unusual deal they had with one of Alisher Usmanov's companies for first refusal on naming rights for the new stadium.
"That allowed them at the time to both sack and recruit managers.
"If it is going to cost £5m to re-recruit David Moyes, that would have to come from the much broader budget.
"Already, the club is watching the pennies very carefully. It would not be an impossible deal but it would have an impact on other budgets at the club.