Everton’s hopes of Tottenham waiving a £10million fee for Dele Alli have receded after they blamed them for over-spending that has resulted in the Toffees being docked 10 points.
Mail Sport has learned that Tottenham are unhappy with Everton’s claim that Daniel Levy’s refusal to pay £80million for Brazilian striker Richarlison caused them to breach the Premier League’s spending rules, which sources at the club have described as absurd.
The 41-page written judgement published by the Premier League’s independent commission last Friday contained a claim from Everton that Tottenham had exploited their problems complying with profit and sustainability rules by driving ‘a hard bargain’ in the transfer market.
Everton also said that the £60m transfer fee Tottenham agreed to pay for the Brazilian striker in June 2022 – which was £20m short of their valuation – was ‘directly attributable to PSR calculation difficulties.’
Everton’s attempt to use the Richarlison fee as mitigation for their over-spending was rejected by the independent commission and may now have damaged their relationship with Tottenham.
The two clubs held talks last month over restructuring a deal which currently states Everton must pay Tottenham £10m if Dele makes another seven appearances, a fee they would struggle to afford at present due to their financial problems, but have yet to reach an agreement.
Tottenham do not want to prevent Dele reviving his career at Goodsion Park, but have made it clear that any renegotiated settlement has to be right for both parties, with a new deal now viewed as less likely.
The 27-year-old also has to improve his fitness before manager Sean Dyche will consider him for selection, as he has not played since picking up an injury during a loan spell at Besiktas last February.
Everton’s claims to have been short-changed by Tottenham have received short shrift in north London, with club sources pointing out that Richarlison will become their record signing if various add-ons in the contract are triggered to take the fee to £60m.
As it stands the guaranteed transfer fee of £52.5m makes Richarlison Tottenham’s second most expensive signing after Tanguy Ndombole, who signed from Lyon for £54m.
Tottenham’s bid for Richarlison was also significantly higher than other expressions of interest from Chelsea and Arsenal, and gave Everton a significant profit on the £40m they paid Watford for him four years previously.
Tottenham are adamant that Everton’s problems are due to their own financial mismanagement. Club sources also pointed out that Everton had other playing assets they could have sold in the summer of 2022 to mitigate their losses such as Anthony Gordon, but chose not to do so.
Gordon ended up staying at Goodison Park for a further six months before joining Newcastle for £45m in a transfer that took place too late to count towards Everton PSR calculation for the 2021/22 season.