Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham have all issued FFP warnings after an Everton player broke the points deduction silence.

Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin is the first player to speak out in response to his club’s recent points punishment, and he has sent a warning to the rest of the Premier League. The Toffees were docked ten points last week after an independent tribunal deemed them in violation of the Profit and Sustainability regulation.

The Premier League accused the Merseyside club in March of this year, with the commission hearing the matter in October. Following the review of hundreds of papers, it was determined that Everton had violated the rule, expanding the adjusted loss by almost £20 million above the £105 million allowed.

The ten-point deduction took effect immediately, dropping the team into the bottom three and back into the relegation race. The case is still being appealed, but for the time being, they will be penalized, which the club said in a statement that it was “shocked” by.

The independent panel claimed that the severity was employed as a sporting deterrent, with a fine thought unlikely to prevent an offence elsewhere in the division. This has understandably raised concerns about other clubs, with Manchester City being charged with alleged violations on 115 accounts.

That case will take much longer to analyze, since the sheer number of charges will make it difficult to deal with in a timely manner. Then there’s Chelsea, who have been accused of being complicit in the acts of previous owner Roman Abramovich, though no charges have been filed against the club as of yet.

Tottenham is investigating the trade of Jermain Defoe to Portsmouth, which has raised doubts all these years later. Overall, it indicates that the Premier League is in a fragile condition as it conducts its due diligence of researching and executing the regulations as appropriate.

Following the Everton case, star striker Calvert-Lewin has warned his Premier League rivals that his team will be ready to fight on the field to reclaim their points. “I think, given the circumstances, I’ve sensed a lot of unity and togetherness,” he said on the club’s website.

“We were on international break when the news broke, but coming back in this week, I don’t think it fazed us.” We understand that as a group, we have little influence. All we can control is what is in front of us, and that is the game on Sunday, which we are looking forward to.”

It shows that the Toffees might still be more than a stiff task this season, with Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, and Chelsea all yet to play them. It remains to be seen how crucial the 10 points will be by then, but the spark has been lit for doubts about the rules elsewhere.