Kieran Maguire compares Everton to Bury and Scunthorpe in new 777 claim
Kieran Maguire has compared the situation at Everton with that of Bury, who were expelled from the Football League in 2019, as well as Wigan, who were put into administration, in a new claim about 777 Partners.
Maguire first posed questions about the funding from 777, which they have been very vague about since the takeover talks began, and made him feel uneasy.
Then, he went on to claim that Everton could go out of the frying pan and into the fire, looking at ownership situations at other English clubs in recent years to make the comparison.
Speaking on The Ripple Effect podcast on 1 November, Maguire explained: “Where is he going to get the money from in respect of Everton? Here, we seem to be very, very vague, and that makes me feel slightly uneasy.
“Are they going to have another leveraged buyout as we’ve seen in the case of Manchester United and the Glazers, and ALK Capital and Burnley? The simple answer is we don’t know, and not knowing is not something that I’d like.
“At the same time, if you’re a drowning man and somebody throws you a life belt you don’t say no. So there’s that issue as well and I think some Everton fans will say it can’t be worse than Moshiri.
“But, if you take a look at what happened with Scunthorpe United this year, if you take a look at what’s happened at Bury, if you take a look at Wigan and what happened when they had a new owner who within three weeks had put the club into administration, sometimes the fire can be worse than the frying pan.”
Worst-case scenario
The comparisons to the likes of Bury, Scunthorpe and Wigan are very dramatic worst-case scenarios, but they are also demonstrations of what could go wrong if the wrong owners are appointed to take over from Moshiri at Goodison Park.
While it may feel that it can’t get worse than it has under Moshiri, these examples prove it certainly can, and the ongoing questions about the eligibility of 777 Partners and their takeover will do nothing to ease those concerns.
The suggestion of a leveraged takeover should also cause some concern to Everton fans when looking at the situation at Manchester United, where the Glazer family are pulling more money out of the club than they are putting into it. At Everton, that would not be sustainable.
Concerns continue to rise for Maguire, and for Everton fans, with the amount of uncertainty surrounding the takeover a key issue which will remain until an eventual resolution is found, and will likely continue even after that.
In other Everton news, one journalist has given a new verdict on Youssef Chermiti.