'Scratching their heads' - Pundit view: Everton stunned as £53.9m transfer agreed

Everton will not be able to understand the latest transfer developments after Chelsea agreed a huge deal to sign Pedro Neto, according to Don Hutchison.

The pundit reacted via X on 9 August to the news that the Wolves winger is heading to Stamford Bridge on a deal worth €63million [£53.9m] on top of another summer of big spending by the London side [Fabrizio Romano, 9 August].

Hutchison expects their ability to do so will have come as a major surprise at Goodison Park, as well as Nottingham Forest and Newcastle.

Everton and Forest were both deducted points last season for PSR breaches, while the Magpies have been scrambling this summer to avoid a similar fate [Guardian, 26 June].

Hutchison wrote: “Another 7 year deal incoming. Newcastle, Forest, Everton must be scratching their heads.”

Everton and Nottingham Forest deducted points for spending

Chelsea have either proven themselves to be masters of playing the accounting game to navigate Premier League spending rules, or they have a huge headache waiting for them down the line.

They can point to a series of academy products making expensive exits, with Conor Gallagher set to join Ian Maatsen, Lewis Hall and Omari Hutchinson in departing permanently this summer [Romano, 9 August], but even so the scale of the spending is eye-opening.

A series of future deals have been agreed on top of the signings of Omari Kellyman, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and the recent £34.5m deal to sign Samu Omorodion from Atletico Madrid [Romano, 8 August].

If the Stamford Bridge side are somehow remaining PSR compliant then it is an impressive feat, although the way they are apparently managing it appears to make the rules worth very little after the club sold a pair of hotels to their owners [Guardian, 19 April].

There was no shortage of anger around the Toffees through last season as they were hit with a pair of points sanctions and this, so soon after the huge Covid-19 allowances which helped Manchester United avoid a spending breach [The Athletic, 8 August], won’t do anything to quell a sense of injustice among Evertonians.

There technically may be no issue at all with the developments at Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge, and maybe the Toffees need to learn how to be cannier operators, but those who feel the essence of the game is being lost into a fog of accounting gymnastics continue to be supplied with plenty of ammunition.

It is possible that Everton could even help contribute to Chelsea balancing the books if a deal ends up being worked out to bring Armando Broja to Goodison Park before the deadline [Mirror, 7 August].

The Albanian international striker has been heavily linked to the Toffees this summer amid uncertainty over Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s future, while Beto is also now a target for Atalanta [Calcio Mercato, 7 August].

In other Everton news, John Textor is now facing “many problems” with his latest attempt to buy the club.

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