David Moyes on Everton’s Compensation Bill and Summer Transfer Plans

David Moyes insists Everton’s record compensation bill to Burnley will not derail their summer transfer plans – and says the club’s new owners knew the financial hit was coming.

The Premier League ordered Everton this week to pay around £35m to Burnley over breaches of Profit & Sustainability Rules relating to the 2021/22 season, a ruling the club has branded “fundamentally flawed in both law and fact” and is now appealing.

Burnley argued that had Everton’s points deduction been applied in the season of the breach, rather than in 2023/24, they would have avoided relegation. The commission agreed, landing Everton with an unprecedented compensation figure on top of the eight-point deduction they have already served.

For a club still trying to steady itself after years of financial turbulence, the headline number is alarming. Moyes, though, says he has been told it will not touch his recruitment budget.

Speaking on talkSPORT, the Everton manager did not hide his frustration at the decision.

“It’s really disappointing,” he said. “I’m not up to the situation exactly how it is and obviously the club are challenging it at the moment as well, which is really important.”

Then came the wider warning. Moyes fears this ruling could ripple far beyond Goodison Park.

“I don’t know if this opens a huge can of worms with other events as well. Teams who have maybe not got promoted, for example, because the Premier League teams are having problems with PSR.

“I felt that we had paid our dues, if that’s right, and we had done it already, but for this to come back to us, it feels like an individual case.

“But I don’t know if it’s going to open up more things for other clubs to do something similar.”

Everton’s hierarchy, though, have moved to calm the football side of the operation. Asked directly whether the financial penalty would squeeze his transfer plans, Moyes was clear about the message from above.

“They told me no,” he said. “They told me that it wouldn’t have any effect on it and look I was aware of this probably four or five weeks ago when it was happening that this would be the case.

“So the answer to that is I really hope it has no effect on what we’re going to do in the summer.”

Moyes is leaning on assurances that the Friedkin Group, who took control of the club, factored this risk into their takeover calculations.

“My understanding is that the Friedkins were aware of this when they were buying the club and there was a possibility this could happen,” he said.

That knowledge, he believes, should insulate his squad-building from the legal storm now raging in the background.

On the pitch, Moyes still clings to the view that Everton laid foundations last season before stumbling badly down the stretch.

“We had a good season except the last month or so when we sort of blew up and we were in a really, really strong position,” he reflected.

The collapse still stings, and Moyes framed the Burnley ruling as another reminder of how quickly things can unravel in the current regulatory climate.

“So if it’s anything I hope it’s a message to the Premier League. It’s so difficult. If you don’t do well you can find yourself in trouble again. We don’t want to be back in those situations we were in the past.”

Everton now stand at a familiar crossroads: an appeal in motion, a huge bill looming, a manager demanding progress, and a fanbase split over whether he is the man to deliver it. The club insist the chequebook stays open.

The test comes in the next few weeks, when talk of “no effect” on transfers meets the hard edge of the summer market.