David Moyes Addresses Everton's £35m Compensation to Burnley

David Moyes insists Everton’s record compensation bill to Burnley will not derail their summer transfer plans – and says he has been assured the £35m hit will not touch his recruitment budget.

Everton were ordered this week to pay Burnley around £35m in compensation after an independent commission ruled the Clarets had suffered a loss as a result of the club’s breaches of the Premier League’s Profit & Sustainability Rules in the 2021/22 season. It is the largest such award of its kind.

Burnley argued they would have avoided relegation had Everton’s points deduction – eventually applied in 2023/24 – been imposed in the season to which the charges related. Everton, who were docked eight points across last season for PSR breaches, have now appealed this latest verdict and issued a statement saying they “believe the ruling is fundamentally flawed in both law and fact”.

Moyes, speaking on talkSPORT, did not hide his frustration at the situation but was adamant about one thing: he has been told his squad rebuild remains intact.

“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, but it’s really disappointing,” he said.

The former West Ham manager admitted the ruling feels like a one-off case aimed squarely at Everton, and warned it could trigger a wave of similar claims from other clubs.

“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.”

For Everton supporters, the immediate question is simple: what does this mean for the summer window? Moyes was clear about the message he has received from the hierarchy.

“They told me no,” he said when asked if the financial penalty would impact transfers. “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.”

The Scot is banking on that promise. He knows last season’s campaign, which he described as “a good season except the last month or so when we sort of blew up”, cannot be repeated in the same way. Everton were, in his words, “in a really, really strong position” before their form collapsed late on.

“But I’m hoping that it doesn’t [affect spending] because last season, as you rightly say, 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.

“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.”

Moyes also pointed to the role of the club’s new owners, the Friedkin Group, and suggested they stepped into Goodison Park with eyes open to the threat of further financial repercussions.

“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.

Everton’s challenge now runs on two tracks. Off the pitch, the club fights to overturn or reduce a ruling it regards as legally and factually flawed. On it, Moyes must build a squad capable of avoiding another brush with the PSR thresholds by doing the one thing that solves most problems in football: winning enough games.