Keith Wyness: Friedkin could make new hire after Everton points deduction twist

Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness believes prospective owner Dan Friedkin will have access to top lawyers that can help the club with their outstanding legal issues.

Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – insisted it provides confidence that the American billionaire still wants to buy the club despite their profit and sustainability (PSR) concerns.

Everton were docked eight points last season after being charged by the Premier League for two separate spending breaches.

The independent commission that oversaw the second case postponed an argument over the capitalisation of the new stadium interest by the club after ruling it was too complex to be heard at the time.

That meant the Merseysiders would face a further hearing later this year, with the Liverpool Echo reporting on 20 November the matter is yet to be resolved.

If the decision were to go against Sean Dyche’s side, it would mean their financial breaches for 2021-22 and 2022-23 would be significantly more than originally thought, potential leading to another points deduction.

Everton need strong legal team to ease points deduction concerns

Wyness insisted it’s important for clubs like Everton to have strong legal teams in place to deal with these issues.

He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “It does give confidence Friedkin still wants to buy the club despite this case.

“But you have got to realise that anybody coming into the Premier League now are going to be looking at the legal side of things for due diligence more than they have ever done before.

“I have been going on about this for years about how KC’s and the whole legal thing are becoming so important now for football clubs.

“In this present environment, any new owner has got to come in there with their eyes wide open.

“You have got to have somebody the scale of The Friedkin Group, who will have access to very good lawyers who can review this and give them opinions.

“Whether or not it’s for this particular case that’s still outstanding, I think there will be so many things coming forward in the next few years regarding the whole structure of the Premier League that they are going to have to get used to this situation.”

In other news, Everton star’s loan could be terminated.

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