More bad news for Everton with prospective owners caught in US legal case

All this could hardly come at a worse time for Everton with the club in the middle of a horrendous run of winless form and still awaiting the outcome of a second investigation into their finances.

The latest issues involving prospective new owners 777 Partners, are focused on a court case in New York being brought against them for alleged unpaid debts.

And these questions are just the latest that have dogged the Miami-based investment group since it was announced they had agreed to buy out Farhad Moshiri.

Since that surprise announcement in September there have been numerous queries expressed about the group's background, investments and their financial position.

Meanwhile, the football and financial authorities have been carrying out their various regulatory checks into the viability of the group and their takeover.

It has taken longer than ideally hoped for (although that is no surprise) but this latest bit of news won't help speed up a process that has already taken six months.

And it comes just a few days after one of the Group's key figures Josh Wander was summoned by the Premier League to a meeting during one of his regular trips to the UK as 777 try and get this deal over the line.

While he was here Wander had the misfortune to watch Everton's latest defeat at home the weekend before last as the Blues collapsed late on to lose 3-1 to West Ham United at Goodison Park.

Words are becoming increasingly hard to find to express how frustrating this campaign has been been for Toffees supporters and although events on the pitch are ultimately what matter most in the short-term, all this potentially has massive repercussions too.

As the takeover process has been dragging on 777 Partners have been providing loans to keep the club going and meet basic costs like payroll as well as expenses still owed on the new stadium.

With Moshiri basically out of the picture now, this situation has become a temporary sticking plaster as everyone waits on the outcome of the Group's bid.

However, there is of course still no certainty about when that will be and this court case and it's potential outcome might have consequences for that.

But obviously 777 won't be prepared to finance the club indefinitely without knowing where they are with the takeover.

So, Everton could face the unimaginably nightmare scenario at the end of this season of a second points deduction and relegation from the Premier League with no owner (if 777's bid is rejected) and therefore possible administration too!

Could it possibly get any worse for this football club?!