Everton fans have the sympathy of football finance expert Kieran Maguire, after he posted on X commenting on a Telegraph piece investigating Chelsea’s use of loopholes.

Maguire posted after reading Telegraph football writer Sam Wallace’s article, titled ‘Clubs agreed to financial rules – they must stop finding loopholes’, on his anger that Chelsea had been able to avoid financial fair play penalties unlike Everton and Nottingham Forest.

So far this season, Everton have had separate deductions of six (reduced from an initial 10) and two points whereas Forest have seen four of their points chalked off, leaving both in a precarious battle for survival and currently occupying the two places directly above the relegation zone.

In his post on X, Maguire was blunt, saying: “If I was an Everton or Forest fan I would be fairly hacked off”, at the current situation, which according to Wallace is a “loophole culture pervading Premier League financial controls.”

Everton face Chelsea with both sides under FFP scrutiny

It’ll be a blue Monday on 15 April when Everton head to Stamford Bridge, with neither club anywhere near they want to be in this season’s Premier League table.

Everton would currently lie 14th and just nine points behind Chelsea if their two deductions earlier this campaign had never come to fruition, and, crucially, would be well clear of a relegation fight they’ve been mired in since August.

Maguire’s sympathy for the Toffees’ current plight is hardly surprising when discovering that Chelsea were able to sell two hotels on their Stamford Bridge stadium site to ease FFP pressures, bringing in a sum-total that “raised more than Kai Havertz(‘s transfer to Arsenal).”

Everton have no such luxury, and would likely be forced into selling their best players if their financial situation worsens, directly impacting their status as a Premier League club.

With seemingly no end in sight to their monetary or ownership woes, Monday night’s match will give Everton fans an insight into a club with much more financial power than they currently possess, and one seemingly at the opposite end of the Premier League’s FFP scales.

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