777 Partners must step in at Everton as Farhad Moshiri may waste more money
Few clubs in the Premier League have made as many questionable transfer decisions in recent years as Everton who have made a habit of making significant missteps.
There are players like Theo Walcott who arrived past his peak, while the likes of Jean Phillipe Gbamin, Omar Niasse, Davy Klaassen and Cenk Tosun who arrived for hefty fees but failed to deliver on the pitch in what has become a bad habit of Farhad Moshiri’s ownership.
This summer, the financial situation at Goodison Park meant that Sean Dyche didn’t have the funds in his transfer pot to make any poor transfer decision, but that hasn’t stopped Everton from coming close to making another questionable addition.
According to Team Talk (5 October) the Toffees were interested in signing Germany and former Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng on a free transfer after his deal expired with Ligue 1 side Lyon at the end of last season.
While many will remember the now 35-year-old for his glittering career in Germany which saw him win a plethora of trophies and even a World Cup with his national side, his career has slowed down in recent years and he only managed eight Ligue 1 appearances last season.
Dyche is eager to strengthen his defence as he believes the Toffees’ are still short on quality in their backline, but a move for Boateng represents the exact sort of financial misstep that has been made too often under Moshiri’s ownership and shows exactly why 777 Partners must step in.
The American investment firm has agreed to a deal in principle to take over the Blues and acquire Moshiri’s 94.1 per cent stake in Everton [Sky Sports, 15 September] and already afforded the Toffees a substantial loan to cover the club’s development of their new stadium and the current running costs [The Athletic, 18 September].
With it looking increasingly likely that a takeover will be agreed, 777 Partners should now step in to ensure that they are not left paying the wage of another player well past his peak, especially given Boateng’s lack of fitness in the last few years of his career.
At his peak, Boateng would have represented an excellent signing for the Toffees and nobody would be questioning whether or not Everton should be making a move for the German. Now, however, he doesn’t have the ability or the fitness to consistently displace either James Tarkowski or Jarred Branthwaite.
It seems likely the 35-year-old will be returning to Munich instead of making the switch to Goodison and that could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for everyone already invested in the Blues, as well as those hoping to takeover the Toffees.
In other Everton news, the Toffees are set to host Euro 2028 matches following the latest Uefa developments