Everton have managed to claw four points back from the Premier League after their appeal against their 10-point deduction was successful.
The news will be a relief, with the additional points taking Everton up to 15th in the standings, five clear of the relegation zone.
Prospective owners, 777 Partners, have been made aware of the ruling and are understood to be steadfast in their desire to acquire the club.
Now, attention will turn to the second outstanding charge, with Nottingham Forest also under Premier League scrutiny.
Unfortunately, there has also been talk of a severe punishment from the authorities, with the verdict set to be revealed in April.
The sanction handed out to the Toffees could significantly impact the behaviour of Premier League clubs moving forward, a view shared by one of the country’s top sports lawyers.
Premier League transfer behaviour could change
Talking to Inews, sports lawyer Simon Leaf believes Premier League clubs could rein in their transfer expenditure in fear of falling foul of the rules.
“One got a sense that Everton were scrabbling to find something that it could throw at the original decision,” he said.
“The fact that so many of these arguments [seven of Everton’s nine in defence] were rejected confirms that breaches of the PSR are what is known as a ‘strict liability’ offence – so even if you have good arguments as to why you ended up in breach, a future commission is unlikely to be sympathetic.”
He added: “This means that we could see more depressed spending in transfer windows going forwards – as we saw in January – as clubs will not want to fall foul of the rules given they are unlikely to get much sympathy from the Premier League or any commission that is constituted to decide their fate.”
Is the landscape changing?
The English football landscape could well be starting to change.
The Premier League’s elite have fuelled an unsustainable model for too long. The only way for the likes of Everton to break into the top six is to overspend and risk falling foul financially. It’s a system that runs down the pyramid.
Everton’s punishment, coupled with Nottingham Forest and Manchester City being charged, could finally see a fairer system implemented and opportunities for lesser clubs to thrive within the top flight.
Only time will tell, but this could drastically change the English game.
Receive a digest of our best Everton content each week direct to your mailbox
