David Moyes Addresses Everton's £35m Compensation Bill and 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 threat was coming long before this week’s verdict.

Everton have been ordered to pay around £35m to Burnley after an independent commission ruled the Clarets were due damages over the Toffees’ breach of the Premier League’s Profit & Sustainability Rules in the 2021/22 season. It is the largest compensation figure of its kind the league has seen.

The decision follows the eight-point deduction Everton absorbed across the 2023/24 campaign for the same PSR breach. Burnley argued that, had those points been removed in the season to which the charges related, they would have avoided relegation. The commission agreed they were entitled to compensation.

Everton have appealed and issued a strongly worded statement, saying they “believe the ruling is fundamentally flawed in both law and fact.”

Moyes: “Really disappointing” – but no transfer freeze

Speaking on talkSPORT, Moyes did not hide his frustration at the latest twist in Everton’s long-running PSR saga.

“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 61-year-old also wondered what kind of precedent the Burnley ruling might now set.

“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.”

That is the wider storm. Closer to home, Everton fans want to know if another financial hit means another summer of belt‑tightening.

On that point, Moyes was clear about the message he has received from above.

Asked directly whether the compensation bill would affect transfer business, he replied: “They told me no.

“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.”

Friedkins knew the risk

Moyes also stressed that the club’s new owners, the Friedkin Group, did not walk into this blind.

“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 awareness, Moyes believes, is part of the reason he has been assured that recruitment plans remain intact despite the looming payout and legal costs.

Everton’s season under Moyes ended with a sour taste. For long stretches they looked set for a far more comfortable campaign before fading badly.

“But I’m hoping that it doesn’t [affect transfers] 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,” Moyes reflected.

The collapse still stings among supporters. His description of a “good season except the last month or so” has already jarred with sections of the fanbase, who see it as glossing over a campaign that unravelled when it mattered most.

Warning shot to the Premier League

Moyes framed the Burnley ruling as another warning sign in a landscape where one poor run or misstep off the pitch can drag a club back towards crisis.

“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 are fighting the verdict. Burnley have their record award. Other clubs are watching closely, weighing their own grievances and missed opportunities.

Moyes, caught in the middle of it all, has been told his transfer budget survives untouched.

The next few weeks will reveal whether those assurances hold when the market opens and the bids have to land.