Alan Brazil stunned as Everton points deduction update dropped live on talkSPORT
Alan Brazil was stunned to hear the latest updates surrounding Everton while hosting the talkSPORT Breakfast Show on Thursday morning.
The New York Times reported on 18 October that 777 Partners’ takeover at Goodison Park has stalled due to the American investment firm failing to provide “audited financial statements” to the Financial Conduct Authority.
On top of that, the Daily Mail reported on Wednesday that meetings have started over the Blues’ alleged Financial Fair Play breaches.
Alex Crook summarised Everton’s woes, leading to an exasperated reaction from Brazil.
Speaking on talkSPORT on Thursday morning (19 October, 08:13am), Crook said: “Some worrying reports have emerged from the New York Times, suggesting 777 Partners, the Americans who’ve had a £550million bid accepted for Everton by Farhad Moshiri, haven’t yet provided the relevant documents they’ve been asked to in terms of proof of funds to show where the money is coming from.
“Initially, this is an issue between them and the Financial Conduct Authority but without approval from the FCA, there’s no way 777 Partners would pass the Premier League’s fit-and-proper-person test.
“This is a big concern for Everton because we know that the money’s running dry under Moshiri, we know they’ve got debts under him, we know they’re halfway through building a new stadium.
“They need this takeover to go through, assuming they are genuine bidders in order to secure their future.
“It’s really worrying times for Everton and of course, in the background, there’s this ongoing FFP investigation which could result in a points deduction.”
After hearing that last point, talkSPORT host Brazil simply responded: “Woah.”
Is Everton going to be sold?
Moshiri’s not going to spend forever as Everton’s owner so he’s going to sell up properly at some point.
However, all the reports coming out of the media at the moment – except for the local media – suggest that 777’s takeover is going sideways.
Who’d have thought that would happen?
Nothing good has been written about 777 other than what’s come from themselves or what has come from those unwilling to risk breaking their ties with the club.
Look at the woes of Hertha Berlin, Vasco da Gama and Standard Liege – why on earth would anything be different at Everton?
If anything, Everton are a bigger basket case than any of the clubs currently on 777’s books because the Toffees are by far the most illustrious club they’ll have and they’re also burdened by major debts, FFP investigations and poor, year-on-year, Premier League performances.
Sure, things look a bit better under Sean Dyche but how long will Everton be able to keep him around or be able to keep their squad of players together when FFP issues aren’t going to go away with a new owner?
In other Everton news, 777 have been accused of “predatory” conduct with takeover on the rocks.