Nottingham in ‘hotter water than Everton’ on FFP charge as £112m change

Nottingham Forest could be in “hotter water than Everton” over their FFP charge, according to claims made by sports finance expert Dr Rob Wilson.

The Reds were charged in January with allegedly breaking the Premier League‘s Profitability and Sustainability rules (PSR). Everton were charged for a second time over allegedly breaching Premier League financial rules following an alleged breach which saw them handed a points deduction in November.

Both Everton and Forest have appealed their charges with the Toffees expecting to hear the outcome of their first charge this week. Both club’s cases are expected to be resolved by May 24 at the latest, five days after the final day of the 2023/24 Premier League season.

And Wilson has offered his verdict on the differences between the charges both clubs face, with the Toffees selling £112million worth of players last season. “Everton sound like they’re quite bullish – they think they should be fine because of the transfers they’ve generated,” he told the i.

“The Nottingham Forest thing is a little bit different. Forest knew the regulations were going to be in place and clearly spent too much money.

“They sold Brennan Johnson and the mitigation is ‘If we’d have sold him at the beginning of the window we’d have complied with FFP, but we sold him at the end and got a higher fee’.

“It’s all well and good, but the reality is they shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place. The purpose of the regulation is to try and stop clubs from acting in a financially irresponsible way.

“Forest could end up in hotter water than Everton on the more recent charge, but it will depend on how significant the breach is over and above the regulation.”