Percy at Telegraph
In Everton’s case, stadium costs rather than player trading will be cited as the root cause of the overspend. The club’s net spend on players among teams has been among the lowest in the Premier League for consecutive years. Everton sold the likes of Richarlison and Anthony Gordon, but the cost of their new £550 million ground at Bramley-Moore Dock is blamed within the club for pushing them over the edge.
Allowable stadium costs have been a matter of fierce debate between Everton and the Premier League for years. When the club was hit with a 10-point deduction for the previous cycle, a major factor in the league’s case was that loans were working capital needs, which are not deductible. Everton will continue to maintain, however, that these payments should be classified as infrastructure costs and therefore excluded.
Although infrastructure costs are generally not applicable to Premier League profit and loss calculations, the competition has previously claimed associated loans at Everton could not be discounted.
