Leeds and Leicester City told to 'agree £5m deal' to settle PSR dispute - Keith Wyness

Leeds United and Leicester City should deal with their current PSR dispute behind the scenes rather than in public view.

That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the two parties should try to reach a private agreement rather than going down the legal route.

This comes after the news that Leeds are considering legal action against the Foxes, after a PSR breach back in 2023-24 saw them promoted from the Championship, arguably at the Whites’ expense.

Wyness believes that Leeds’ case is not as strong as the one which Burnley have recently pressed against Everton, and believes it will be “disastrous” for legal action to become the norm in football.

Everton have been ordered to pay £35million in compensation to Burnley as a result of their PSR breach, and there is a chance that Leeds could get a similar outcome.

The West Yorkshire outfit are currently assessing their legal actions, but Wyness believes it can be settled in a far more simple manner.

Everton’s former chief Wyness - who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs - believes that clubs cannot keep turning to the legal route to settle their differences.

He believes that Leeds’ issues with Leicester could be settled away from the courtroom with a relatively insignificant payment of £5m.

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, he made it clear that the footballing authorities have to “get a grip” on the regularity of lawsuits from clubs.

“Well, I don't think the case is quite as strong, and I'm not saying that I thought the Burnley case was strong,” Wyness said.

“This is a classic example now where football needs to get a grip before this really spirals and it becomes a tsunami of these sorts of lawsuits. They've got to do this deal privately between themselves, and I think that could get done.

“I think there could well be a chat between both clubs. Even if they're to have an independent mediator, I think they should try to get it done. They could maybe come to an agreement, maybe something around the £4m or £5m mark, rather than going legal and not going into the resolution side of this.

“Otherwise we're opening a trap door that so many clubs are going to fall down and it's going to be disastrous for football with money disappearing out of the game into the hands of the lawyers.”

Former Manchester City financial advisor Stefan Borson told Football Insider last week that he believes Leeds have a “good claim” against Leicester.

As well as the Foxes’ breach in the Championship in 2023-24, they also breached PSR when they were relegated from the Premier League alongside the Whites in 2022-23.

In that season, three of the Premier League’s bottom five clubs breached the financial restrictions, and Borson emphasised that Everton and Nottingham Forest could also be at risk of a claim from Leeds.

The issue has caused plenty of controversy in recent days, but the football finance expert believes that the West Yorkshire outfit may have a leg to stand on.