Everton: Josh Wander alludes to takeover ‘advice we have received’ on Premier League delay
Josh Wander has indicated that 777 Partners cannot answer questions on the Everton takeover process until it is concluded, in a letter written to the Fan Advisory Board’s chair Dave Kelly.
The FAB posted the prospective new club owner’s response on Twitter (29 March) after writing to the company on 25 March, with Wander personally committing to a meeting with Kelly and an “open dialogue” once the takeover “concludes successfully”.
However, he said he wanted to “manage your expectations” on what information is available before the process is concluded, based on “advice we have received with respect to the ongoing regulatory processes”.
Wander wrote: “Although you and I have not yet had the chance to meet, I am personally committed to meeting with you and having an open dialogue as and when our bid to acquire Everton FC concludes successfully.
“It is fair to say that when you spoke with Don [Dransfield, CEO of 777 Partners] last year, none of us thought that this process would take over 6 months, as opposed to 12-14 weeks, as was our expectation.
“I look forward to answering your questions to the extent we are able, but I want to manage your expectations that we can’t do so prior to the transaction concluding, in line with the advice we have received with respect to the ongoing regulatory process.
“However, all of us at 777 Partners, myself included, remain committed to having a productive working relationship with the FAB and other organised fan groups once we are owners of Everton FC.”
Josh Wander can’t provide Everton takeover answers
Wander has given even less of an update on the situation than Farhad Moshiri did in his own letter to the FAB, but perhaps that is to be expected since the delay continues to render him only a hopeful rather than the club’s actual majority shareholder.
It is a frustrating reality of such business dealings that there will no doubt be clauses in the agreement that restrict what can be spoken about publicly until it concludes, but that still serves to leave a long-suffering fanbase in the dark of the future of the club.
Wander is believed to have held in-person talks with the Premier League in recent weeks but there is no indication here of what the outcome was of those.
Unless he was minded to cut off the takeover attempt at this stage he is probably unlikely to express anything other than an expectation for the deal to go through, and with millions in loans already pumped into the club it seems clear that 777 are committed to seeing the process through, for better or for worse.
The league sending their own recent letter indicating that they were “minded” to grant approval for the takeover, but only based on conditions which largely seem like they would have been relevant even since the deal with Moshiri was announced back in September.
And in Wander’s latest communication there is, perhaps unsurprisingly, nothing to shed any light on why those conditions haven’t been met after more than 27 weeks, or whether they can be before the middle of next month.
His commitment to continued communication with the FAB and other fan groups appears to be a positive, and on the surface he is making the right noises, but this doesn’t ultimately provide fans many new answers as to what comes next.
In other Everton news, a pundit now fears the takeover delay is starting to wreak havoc on contract issues in the squad this summer.
For more Everton news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.