Joey Barton claims to have paid Fleetwood Town staff himself

In terms of the embargo, Town were limited to one transfer out and one in for a period of time – as were most EFL clubs.

If teams accepted an EFL loan, they had to pay it back before making any moves in the transfer market.

Barton said: “What happened was he (Andy Pilley, club owner) went into a transfer embargo due to coronavirus.

“He took out an £800,000 loan from the EFL that they were going to pay back. The Premier League rescue package only ended up coming in at half of the loan.

“Whilst I was there they were under a transfer embargo and a few were coming to the end of their cycle.

“Ched Evans, I’d just had enough of him. I just felt he wasn’t performing on the pitch and I wanted to improve it in that position.

“When I went to speak to him (Pilley) about it he told me about the embargo, which was a lot later than I thought I should have found out about it.

“I wanted a couple of bodies in and I thought we could be there or thereabouts. He wanted to bring some of the younger players in.”

Barton also made claims about paying staff out of his own pocket and offering to pay a player.

A manager paying a player is not allowed under rules governing third party ownership.

Barton also said of Pilley: “He wanted to get promoted using the younger players and he wanted to put Alex Cairns back in goal.

“He’d cost us in the play-offs and I felt the team had lost confidence in Al.

“I brought a number one in (Joel Coleman) and he injured his hamstring. I brought a number two in (Jayson Leutwiler) and he ended up being number one.

“He told me he wasn’t going to renew Jayson Leutwiler’s contract and he’d done superbly. I said I’d pay him out of my own money.

“I was paying for staff. I was paying for stuff for some of the lads myself because I wanted Fleetwood to win.

“I didn’t take money home really – I was just paying other members of staff who I felt I needed.

“I offered to pay for Leuts. He (Pilley) said no and I knew at that point he wanted to dictate the team.”

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