Everton's signing of Nathan Patterson from Rangers is reportedly one of the deals that "p***** off" the English Premier League after they slapped the club with a 10-point deduction.

English football was rocked on Friday as Sean Dyche's side saw then their points tally slashed to 4 after the Premier League Commission judged the Toffees to have breached Financial Fair Play rules. The Commission imposed the sanction as punishment for the Goodison club incurring unacceptable financial losses whilst not bringing in enough cash to offset them.

The decision has raised eyebrows across the game - with Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher among defenders of Everton as he questioned why the Premier League did not step in to halt signings like Scotland defender Patterson. The right-back left Rangers back in January 2022 and was named by the Commission among deals that had contributed to the £19.5million losses that saw Everton hit with the hefty sanction.

But Carragher's complaints could be clamped by a fresh report that claims that several warnings were issued to Goodison Park chiefs - including before the signing of Patterson. The Sunday Telegraph state that Everton were required to obtain approval from the Premier League before they signed any new players, and that before each deal they were reminded the club is was their responsibility to stay within FFP rules rules.

The Premier League were said to be pleased with the business conducted by the club during the summer of 2021 with Rafa Benitez bringing in Andros Townsend, Salomòn Rondòn and Demarai Gray for a combined total of £1.5million. But the spending in the following window - which included the additions of Patterson and Vitalii Mykolenko - is said to have "angered the Premier League sufficiently for a prosecution to occur."

In the following summer, new boss Frank Lampard would be allowed to spend a combined £86million on recruits, and while the sales of Lucas Digne and Richarlison offset losses spending in 2022 was judged to have been "reckless" by Everton. A source told the Sunday Telegraph that the league felt they were "bending over backwards" for the Goodison club and continued spending from January 2022 "is what really pissed off the Premier League".