Lack of further news on investment in Everton is a little worrying
The 2022-23 Premier League season is over and that nerve-racking final day 1-0 win for Everton over Bournemouth, is almost a week ago already.
Despite the fact the transfer window hasn’t yet opened, there have been plenty of things happening at the club with players leaving and rumours circulating.
But, one of the things that hasn’t happened is confirmation that new investment is going into Everton, something we had hoped might occur quickly.
And that was certainly what appeared to be possible if the media reports that were floating around in the week before last Sunday’s dramatic match, were to be believed.
Those stories were the culmination of a last six months or so of on and off rumours of investment or possible takeovers of the club.
In the run-up to the final day fixtures, reports had claimed that first one American consortium and then another were close to agreeing a deal to either takeover or provide a much-needed injection of capital.
The initial line was one of them there very close to agreeing a possible takeover and were just waiting for conformation of the Toffees Premier League status before they moved, perhaps was early as the very next week. That group was 777 Partners.
Then, just days before the Bournemouth game, one of those interested parties, MSP Capital, had apparently secured the right to talk to Blues owner Farhad Moshiri exclusively.
However, since the win last weekend confirmed that Everton would be playing top flight football again next season, everything has gone very quiet.
Obviously, in some ways that isn’t necessarily significant.
This sort of high-finance type stuff often goes on behind the scenes before suddenly a public annoucement is made, often with an unexpected outcome.
After all, that’s how Moshiri himself ended up taking control of the Blues back in 2016. No one knew he was going to end up as the new club owner until it was announced.
There is an added complication with the announcement that the UK government is potentially investigating the owners’ long-term relationship with Alisher Usmanov.
That too is on top of the Premier League’s referral of the club to an independent commission over financial practices.
What that government investigation might actually mean in practice, is unknown and the commission won’t report until perhaps the end of this year.
But, it is just typical of Everton that anything that can go wrong usually does! I worry this club is in such a serious mess that it could end up in administration.
Anyway, the recent takeover talk is reminescent of what happened last summer when there were stories circulating about another American consortium, fronted by Peter Kenyon, who were also supposedly given exclusive rights to negotiate with the Toffees owner.
That was to be over a potential full takeover. In the end it all fizzled out and nothing came of it leaivng Moshiri and his board to oversee another near catastrophic campaign of failure.
So, is the same thing going to happen again?
I sincerely hope not, as new owners or at least shareholders who can deliver the desperately needed changes at the club, are essential.
Furthermore, this must surely happen quickly if it is to have any substantial impact as the summer transfer window opens soon.
Otherwise, any hopes and plans for next season and a turrnaround in Everton’s fortunes, looks very unlikely to me.