Everton claimed to have ‘dodged bullet’ after possible takeover talks

Moving away from the constant transfer chatter and Everton are said to have evaded a potentially disasterous takeover earlier this year.

This has been a seriously hectic last six months for the Toffees, even by their standards, as along with yet another a new manager, a second straight relegation near miss and a referral to an independent commission over finances, came more takeover talk.

All this chaos and upheaval has left Everton in a perilous position forcing a serious pruning of the squad and severely restricting options in the transfer window.

Since the beginning of the calendar year several groups of investors were said to be interested in potential investment in, or a possible takeover of, Everton.

These developments came after it emerged that Farhad Moshiri was searching for new money to help finish the stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock following the club’s severing of links with Alisher Usmanov after the Ukraine invasion last year.

Of course, last summer there was a running story that an American consortium fronted by Peter Kenyon were seriously close to a takeover.

That didn’t happen and so the Blues entered the 2022-23 season with Moshiri still holding the reigns.

Then, back in January as Everton were struggling badly on the pitch and manager Frank Lampard’s future was under constant discussion, another American investment group were seen in attendance at Goodison Park.

That was MSP Sports Capital who choose to watch the Toffees suffer an ignominous 2-1 home defeat to Southampton as they supposedly contemplated potential investment. Not exactly a great advertisment for them to see!

Despite that, the US group still remained keen and continued to be in touch with Moshiri.

Shortly afterwards another American consortium entered the fray as 777 Partners were rumoured to be interested in the club.

This group seemed more willing to consider a full takeover while MSP’s involvement would more likely be a cash injection in exchange for seats on the board, but leaving Moshiri as majority shareholder.

After contradictory stories about which of these groups was in pole position, it eventually emerged that MSP Capital had entered an exclusivity agreement with Moshiri in May.

Then, it was anounced about a month later that they had raised around £130 million to invest in the Blues, primarily to ensure the successful completion of the new stadium build.

Now, according to a story in the media, Everton might well have inadvertently swerved a potentially catastrophic situation if 777 Partners had taken over.

According to this article, the US group are facing a range of serious allegations, including fraud and extortion.

While these allegations are unproven and I think the majority of Evertonians, including myself, would like to see a full takeover and new ownership of the club, obviously we wouldn’t want to potentially go from the frying pan to the fire.

Now, the club desperately needs to find a degree of financial stability, avoid another relgation battle next season and get the new ground ready to hopefully provide a stronger and more secure future.