Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram announces 777 talks to be held Wednesday over Everton takeover ‘concerns’
Steve Rotheram has announced he is meeting with 777 Partners to discuss the proposed Everton takeover and “outline fan’s concerns”.
The London City Region mayor revealed on Twitter on 26 September that he wants to “get answers to the questions” he and “many others” have, while making clear how “important to the region” the club is.
Rotheram had written in the Liverpool Echo earlier the same day that he would be seeking discussions with the American company, and has apparently been successful in doing so.
Rotheram wrote: “Everton FC is far more than a football club, far more than numbers on a spreadsheet and far more important to the region that sporting rivalry.
“I’ll be meeting 777 Partners tomorrow to outline fan’s concerns and get answers to the questions that I and many others have.”
Getting serious
With Josh Wander and Don Dransfield having visited the club last week to meet with Sean Dyche and Kevin Thelwell, and now set for discussions with Rotheram, it certainly appears like the takeover is becoming real despite doubts that it would go ahead.
The agreement between 777 and Farhad Moshiri was only the start of a process that has plenty of hoops yet to jump through, but clearly plenty of the relevant parties are taking a keen interest now.
It has been suggested on a number of occasions in recent months that the club’s future is under threat so it is only right that it is protected by any authorities that can.
Some fans might argue that it is the Moshiri reign that is the greatest danger to the long-term future rather than a new one, even if the current owner would no doubt point to the stadium development and the estimated £750million he has put into the club in response.
With new questions raised over his finances and relationship with Alisher Usmanov it feels like a change at the top as soon as possible is the only way to find any stability.
A long wait has been trailed for the 777 takeover as the regulators carry out their processes, but in the mean time Wander and company certainly seem to be putting themselves about in person which is probably a positive sign.
In other Everton news, one of the younger members of Dyche’s side is now undroppable according to a former club captain.