Everton need clarity, not more confusion, as takeover battle descends into farce
777 continue to raise red flags but those in the shadows must now put up or shut up
Farhad Moshiri’s Everton endgame has now officially entered unwanted territory.
At a time when the mood around Goodison Park should be one of relief and even relaxation, having avoided the need for their third Premier League relegation battle in as many years to boil down to another tense final week, nerves still remain fraught.
The British-Iranian billionaire’s long-awaited departure is indefinitely on hold despite agreeing to sell his 94.1% shareholding in the Blues to 777 Partners last September. Moshiri’s deal with the Americans is still beset by their inability to earn ratification from the top flight’s gatekeepers under the Owners and Directors’ Test (OADT).
Josh Wander and his associates have begged, borrowed or otherwise to provide working capital totalling £200M which ensured that the lights stayed on at Goodison and machinery kept whirring at Bramley-Moore Dock over the past few months. But they are yet to supply any evidence of sustainable long-term funding capabilities or repay former takeover rivals MSP Sports Capital’s bridging loan for the new stadium.
Given that Moshiri flew through the OADT within 11 days of his investment being announced, the omens do not look promising for 777 as their wait for approval enters an eighth month; far and away from the originally anticipated ‘final quarter of 2024’ outcome. Settling up with MSP, a strict condition in the Premier League’s plans for approval, has been deferred for several more weeks as they try and cobble together £158M, which also includes a contribution from Andy Bell and George Downing.
The Miami-based group’s disintegrating business portfolio plunged fresh depths on Tuesday, hours before their latest tranche of funding landed in Everton’s coffers, as its budget airline Bonza entered voluntary administration. Thousands of travellers were left stranded across Australia with all flights grounded and the eight Boeing 737 MAX planes owned by the company reportedly seized by creditors within a matter of hours.
Should 777’s bid fall flat, the onus would be on Moshiri to end the charade due to the Premier League’s reluctance to kibosh the proposal they were ‘minded’ to approve in March. Barring a belated moment of realisation, that appears some way off as the incumbent perseveres with his preferred suitors, come hell or high water. Breaking that potential impasse is also not helped by those seeking to replace Wander and Co.
There has been no shortage of bad actors throughout Moshiri’s premiership. His business associate Alisher Usmanov has undoubtedly been the greatest destabilising influence after his hefty alignment with Vladimir Putin returned to haunt Everton in the aftermath of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine little more than two years ago.
Others have played their part, be it the football intermediary Kia Joorabchian or Jim White using his friendship with the benefactor to air the club’s laundry over the national airwaves. In-house, there has also been the odd rotten apple, some still gainfully employed despite showing their true colours last year during ‘headlockgate’.
Those collective misdeeds are now being given a run for their money by the PR war breaking out in the battle for ownership of Moshiri’s majority shareholding. While 777 continue to insist they are capable of taking over the club, even while boasting a track record that has more red flags than a matchday at Anfield, potential replacements continue to spread the word that they are patiently continuing to wait in the wings.
Talk of potential insolvency has also fuelled the notion those lurking in the shadows are a more viable option to take the club forward than 777 despite nothing else being publicly known about them aside from the repeated affirmations by third parties. A reasoned argument put forward in recent weeks is that remaining anonymous is simply applying standard business practice in efforts to drive down the price.
Clearly their continued silence is part of a long-game strategy, refusing to show their hand long enough that Moshiri’s desperation will make them an appealing prospect. But their credibility is undermined by continual ‘nudge, nudge, wink, wink’ references via sympathetic proxies that never evolve beyond that original, hollow, claim.
Evertonians have suffered enough this season, let alone during Moshiri’s tenure and beyond that, without being led down the garden path once more. It’s imperative that clarity, rather than more confusion, finally enters the room. Any credible alternatives, if they do exist, need to start engaging with the fanbase; outlining their motives and plans to make the club both financially sustainable and competitive on the pitch again.
For these supposed white knights as much as 777, it’s time to either put up or shut up.