Leeds United may have transfer compensation claim on Everton over Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha exits – Adam Pope
Leeds United may have a valid claim for compensation from Everton over the deals that saw Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha sold two summers ago, according to Adam Pope.
The BBC journalist suggested on Don’t Go To Bed Just Yet that the 10-point deduction handed down to the Toffees during the international break was “harsh” but suggested the Whites could have also overspent to keep the star duo and potentially stay in the Premier League if they hadn’t been trying to ensure they stayed within the rules.
The same commission panel which found Everton guilty of a profit and sustainability breach is set to hear claims for compensation from the likes of Leeds, Leicester and Burnley, which Jonny Buchan believes could work in the Whites’ favour.
Buchan said (15m 25s): “That bodes well from a Leeds perspective you would have thought wouldn’t it?”
Pope replied: “A, firstly, there should be a sanction against Everton [but] I think 10 points is harsh. Where’s that come from?
“There’s a nonsensical aspect to the sanction that’s been handed down when you think that the European Super League teams who are uber-wealthy in terms of their owners, more so than [Farhad] Moshiri at Everton, they were just handed a £3.5million fine each…
“I draw a parallel with what happened with Leeds, and the 15 points [deducted in League One in 2007 for going into administration], and Everton getting their points is that it was managed badly by the owners of the club and the punishment hasn’t come against them but has come against everybody else, who isn’t responsible for it, so it’s nonsensical in that sense…
“I think there is a claim for Leeds possibly because they played within the rules with Raphinha and Phillips – then is there not a compensation that they could claim for there, saying, ‘We had to sell them for lower than what we wanted to in order to keep within FFP?’
“Could they have offered them mega contracts to try and keep them and try to enhance our Premier League status off the back of it?
“So I think there is something there but all three clubs can’t claim that they would all have replaced Everton, only one can do that.”
He rounded up: “I do think Leeds, it’s fair to say, there is a claim around transfer dealings, when you’re trying to be FFP-correct”.
Stretch?
Pope himself questioned where the sporting advantage to Everton was supposed to have manifested itself when the commission had apparently agreed there wasn’t one.
They overspent and would have been extremely lucky to avoid any sort of punishment, but quite how any panel is now supposed to rule on how much that affected others and then put a number on it is anybody’s guess.
Toffees supporters have been enraged by the suggestion that the commission were essentially making it up as they went along with the original findings, so if the same body continues in that vein then perhaps there could be a cash boost at Elland Road.
Whether the club could argue that they would have been able to keep their stars might be a struggle, especially when Raphinha appeared hell-bent on Barcelona, with the help of Deco, and the club had already failed to secure a new deal with Phillips before the opportunity of a move to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City arose.
But the club will surely push for compensation if there is a chance of it, with Angus Kinnear’s unhappiness at the financial practices at Goodison Park believed to have been key to starting the investigation in the first place.
It is surely easier said than done but the chips have fallen Leeds’ way so far in term’s of Everton’s hearing so perhaps they can land substantial cash from the situation, but there is no chance that everyone is left happy whichever way it goes next.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites could be set for a windfall of over £5million after developments in the past fortnight according to Phil Hay.