Portsmouth and West Ham are being accused by Everton boss David Moyes of tempting players with high wages then having to offload them when finances are tight. "They bought players and gave them big wages. That made it difficult for clubs like Everton because we would try to get similar players but they blew us out with higher wages, far more than Everton could afford,'' he told The Sunday Express.

Moyes added: "It upset the whole market. Now they are backing off and selling players because they paid them higher wages than maybe they should have.

"In truth, the people who went into those clubs are now either one down, or bankrupt, or can't afford to pay the wages.

"Now Portsmouth might say, 'We had our day in the sun. We won the FA Cup and we don't really care'.

"But I think those sort of clubs are the ones which have disrupted the wages in the Premier League.''