Everton to demand FA dock City points over Lescott scandal
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Everton to demand FA dock Manchester City points over Lescott scandal
Everton will this week lodge a formal complaint with the FA alleging that Manchester City made an illegal approach for Joleon Lescott.
The Blues are set to ask the FA to investigate their claim that Manchester City made an illegal approach for Joleon Lescott – and will demand £10m in compensation and a points deduction if the Eastlands club are found guilty.
City finally landed the England defender in a £24m deal last night after having two previous bids rejected by the Goodison Park club. But the cash-rich Sky Blues will also be hit with a huge compensation claim from Everton if the inevitable FA investigation finds that they broke any rules. They could also be faced with the prospect of a points deduction.
Sunday Mirror Sport can reveal that Everton have compiled a dossier of evidence which they believe will prove City rode roughshod over rules governing the conduct of clubs in the transfer market.
An insider at Goodison said their case was “nailed on” and Moyes – who refused a transfer request from Lescott on the eve of the new season – revealed that the 27-year-old had initially refused to play in last week’s 6-1 home hammering by Arsenal.
Moyes has been scathing of the way City and their manager Mark Hughes have pursued Lescott. He said: “Joleon told me on the Friday before the Arsenal game that he didn’t want to play.
“I told him that I had no other options or choices and so I chose to play him. “In the end that worked against me so I took the decision to leave him out for the Europa Cup game during the week.
“I would always have preferred to have kept the player. That would have been my choice because he’s a good player who can play two positions. “But his behaviour has forced us into this position. He jeopardised the team spirit in the dressing room. You could see how we were against Arsenal.
“Joleon's attitude has been so poor that it has had an adverse effect on the whole squad. “If a player is going to behave in the manner he did then we have no choice but to keep him away.”
The FA have vowed to crack down on any clubs who are found guilty of making illegal approaches for players. In 2002, Liverpool made a £1m out-of-court settlement to Middlesbrough after being fined £20,000 by the FA for the way they conducted the £5.5m transfer of Christian Ziege from the Riverside to Anfield.
Boro had initially demanded a compensation figure of £7.5m. Four years ago it was Chelsea in the dock after manager Jose Mourinho and chief executive Peter Kenyon met with Ashley Cole without the permission of Arsenal.
Mourinho and Cole were fined £200,000 and £100,000 respectively and Chelsea had to pay £300,000 as well as being hit with a suspended three-point deduction.
Ironically, Chelsea threatened to report City for making an illegal approach for John Terry earlier this summer but decided not to act when the England skipper opted to stay at Stamford Bridge.
Moyes, meanwhile, will now look to chairman Bill Kenright for guarantees that the cash raised on Lescott will be handed over for player recruitment.
The Merseysiders must first pay Wolves £2.4m after agreeing to a 10% sell-on clause when Lescott moved to Goodison from Molineux two years ago.
Moyes said: “I would hope that any money we raise will be handed over for new players, but I haven’t been given any assurances on that and so you never know what will happen.
“Even if I do get the money to spend it will be very difficult to bring in players in the next week before the transfer window closes.”
Moyes could look to do business again with City during the week after identifying Richard Dunne as the man to replace Lescott.
Dunne has rejected offers from both Sunderland and Stoke in recent weeks after being told by Hughes he can not be guaranteed a first-team place.
The Irishman is City’s longest-serving player, having arrived from Everton for £3m nine years ago, and wants to fight for his place at Eastlands. But he also knows that he needs to be playing regularly in the Premier League with the Republic of Ireland still hopeful of qualifying for the World Cup.
Everton are also interested in Newcastle’s Steven Taylor, but have not yet lodged a bid for the England Under-21 international.