The Blues’ most recent accounts showed owner Farhad Moshiri’s interest-free shareholder loan balance stood at almost £451 million. As Moshiri is in the process of selling the club to the Friedkin Group, many, if not all, of these shareholder loans will be completely forgiven.

But while the question of what would happen if clubs had to pay market rate interest on these loans had persisted for a few days, the reality is that it probably won’t have as much of an impact as initially feared. departure for the clubs, and that this is very unlikely. this retrospective action could, or would, be taken given the potential that it could trigger more costly legal battles across the league.

According to figures presented by football finance expert and author of Price of Football, Kieran Maguire, if an interest rate of 8% had been applied to loans to the club, losses between 2021 and 2023 would have increased from 254 million of pounds sterling to £362 million.

But, according to a football finance expert, retrospective action against clubs is highly unlikely, although we could see a change in the look of league rules in the future.

“I think it’s unlikely that we’ll see any retrospective sanction linked to PSR,” explained Dr Dan Plumley, lecturer in sports finance at Sheffield Hallam University, in an interview with ECHO via Instant Casino.

“It will be about not trying to charge clubs for any of these loans. I think what likely happens next will depend on how quickly the league can implement these changes, and of course, that remains up in the air at the moment.

“I think what we’re likely to see is a change in those rules, and then what that will mean for clubs. Some of those clubs with shareholder loans might then choose to refinance in certain ways. They can convert these shareholder loans into shares for free. We could see clubs going down this route and again this would ultimately mean that there would be no real consequences for the clubs themselves or. certainly for the PSR.

“But it will be a shake-up of how this is funded internally, which will impact the owners and what kind of equity play the organization plays. But clubs are unlikely to charge this amount retrospectively. I think these rules will need to be strengthened and changes made in the future.

“This could have implications for what these rules themselves become in the future and perhaps under a different version of FFP, certainly linked to this squad cost ratio rule that UEFA has But I think that’s how it’s going to be. I don’t think it’s going to be too big of a change that clubs will have to adapt to, and I don’t think it’s probably going to be as big as we think. claims it.

Everton, whose relationship with the Premier League has been strained at best in recent times due to two points deductions in one season last year for two separate PSR breaches, were one of three clubs to give evidence in support of Man City. in court over APT rules.

The other two were Chelsea and Newcastle United, while Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest appeared more sympathetic to City’s views than most other Premier League teams apart from those who gave evidence.

But it remains to be seen whether that stance will change for Everton in terms of supporting City for greater change around the APT and other associated regulations when the club comes under new ownership, with the Friedkin Group potentially finalizing its redemption before the end of the year.

Dr Plumley said: “It’s often something that’s overlooked. We know how the league is structured, we know it’s a majority vote of the membership, 14 is the majority, but we don’t often consider the ownership changes that happen in that dynamic and how that might impact the things.

“You may find in the future that, and we may not see a comparable case, clubs will seek to say differently depending on whether there is a change of ownership.

“We’ve seen clubs behave differently depending on the ownership structure at the time, and I think that’s part and parcel of that.

“We must accept that owners will have different motivations, desires and goals, and that this will determine how they vote. This is certainly a factor in the event of a change of ownership.