Leeds and Burnley to push for Everton investigation regardless of league outcome

Leeds and Burnley have vowed to continue to lead calls for an investigation into Everton’s finances irrespective of the consequences of Sunday’s Premier League finale.

One of the two clubs, who have jointly written to the Premier League claiming Everton have seriously breached financial rules, will face relegation after the final round of fixtures.

But the PA news agency understands they have expressed ongoing solidarity in their quest to determine whether Everton’s reported three-year losses of £371.8million over the last three years breach financial rules.

The Premier League’s profit and financial sustainability rules allow clubs to lose a maximum £105m over a three-year period or face sanctions, which include points deductions for serious breaches.

The two clubs sent a joint letter to the league on May 13 asking for an independent commission to be set up to investigate the matter within six weeks of their correspondence.

They have further asked the Premier League, who have not commented on the matter, to ensure no relevant documents pertaining to Everton’s financial affairs are deleted or destroyed in the interim.

Leeds and Burnley had been involved in a three-way relegation battle with Everton, who secured their top-flight safety on Thursday by beating Crystal Palace 3-2 at Goodison Park.

Neither club have been prepared to go public on their quest, while Everton are understood to maintain that they have complied with the rules.

Losses caused by the Covid pandemic can be written off, but Leeds and Burnley have raised concerns over Everton’s losses, which were more than three times that of other similarly-sized clubs.

Everton were one of the biggest spenders in the last January transfer window, with a reported £30m spent on Vitaliy Mykolenko and Nathan Patterson.

Dele Alli arrived from Tottenham and loan signing Donny van de Beek was also brought in on big wages from Manchester United.