Everton are a club that has been ran into the ground across the last decade, but they have hardly been helped in their efforts to stop this regression.
After all, Farhad Moshiri has been the main man to blame, yet it was the players and fans instead punished by the Premier League last season in the form of two separate points deductions.
This campaign has sparked a renewed feeling of ill will between the club and its division, which seems to extend both ways.
Especially after what the league have just done to further lambast the Toffees.
How the Premier League have reacted to Everton’s transfers
When Everton seemingly traded Lewis Dobbin for Tim Iroegbunam with Aston Villa, two academy products, the clubs likely didn’t think much of it.
After all, both bolstered positions of need with exciting young prospects, and in turn received a small PSR boost of £10m and £9m respectively.
However, for the Premier League, this was unacceptable.
They reportedly were desperate to close Everton’s new PSR loophole, and have now gone one step further, writing to all 20 clubs to warn them not to continue this trend.
The Athletic reported: ‘The clubs involved will insist they have been creative in attempts to level out a playing field skewed towards those able to spend more, and that accounting constraints will always lead towards loopholes being spotted.
‘The Premier League then wrote to all 20 clubs in a circular. A reminder was given that the Premier League are entitled to investigate any deals it believes are not conducted at “arm’s length” and holds the power to request any information over how a fee was negotiated and determined.
‘The Premier League, in theory, have the power to return a transfer fee to the buying club if it has been deemed to be artificially inflated.’
The Premier League pick and choose their frustrations
Whilst this summer might be an unprecedented one due to the sheer amount of swap deals going on, the Premier League cannot be surprised.
If they are going to enforce such questionable, abrasive rules like PSR, they should expect some kind of pushback in the form of their clubs trying to dance around the regulations.
However, if they are going to kick up a fuss, with Lewis Dobbin’s deal to Aston Villa becoming the outstanding scapegoat in this saga, perhaps they might want to look back through the archives to some other similarly questionable deals that have gone on.
In fact, they need only look across Stanley Park at the wealth of talent that has left Anfield for huge sums, despite having done little to warrant such a fee.
Back in 2016, AFC Bournemouth turned heads when they paid £15m for Jordan Ibe. He was released just four years later.
A couple of years later saw the Cherries return to Merseyside, but this time to offload £20m for the unproven Dominic Solanke. Only recently has he started to prove his worth.
£12.5m for Danny Ward. £16m for Neco Williams. £12m for Harry Wilson. £23.5m for Rhian Brewster.
Even last summer, when various clubs like Chelsea and Liverpool were lining their pockets with inflated Saudi Arabian fees, nothing was said.
It is just so typical that Everton are the first club that they are finally trying to clamp down on.
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