Everton face crisis point by October after Dan Friedkin takeover collapse says finance expert
Everton will be facing “crisis point” by as early as October after the collapse of the latest attempted takeover, says Kieran Maguire.
The football finance expert from the University of Liverpool told the Guardian’s Football Weekly podcast (31 July) that money is available at Goodison Park for the short-term but without a new solutionsoon that situation won’t hold far into the new season.
The Friedkin Group were expected to buy out Farhad Moshiri until they dramatically abandoned the deal earlier this month amid concerns surrounding money owed to 777 Partners/A-Cap [The Athletic, 20 July].
Maguire said: “It’s not good, I think, in the medium term. In the short term they’ve got enough money for the next two, three, four months perhaps, but when we get to October, November we’re then reaching crisis point again.”
Farhad Moshiri must find new Everton funding fast
The sun may be shining on the Toffees through the summer but it looks like the situation could get very concerning as winter approaches if help doesn’t arrive soon.
Player sales, Premier League broadcast cash and season ticket sales, and cost-cutting measures behind the scenes, have combined to fortify the club against financial meltdown for now.
That was supposed to be all that was needed as Friedkin appeared to be marching towards a deal to buy the club.
But his unwillingness to take on the risk and uncertainty around the 777/A-Cap money and all the legal wrangling related to it has pulled the rug out from under Everton.
Thankfully for Sean Dyche, for now at least, the transfer window is continuing in a positive vein after Jake O’Brien became the fifth signing of the summer.
But it has already been claimed by The Esk (20 July) that there are now no avenues to further funding outside of player sales for the foreseeable future, with Moshiri long since having ceased putting money in, all assets tied to loans already, and the takeover situation branded “unresolvable” as things stand.
Maguire now appears to have backed up that ominous position, so unless one of the new prospective buyers that are emerging [Matt Slater, 19 July] is confident or rich enough to plow ahead with a takeover despite the complications involved there could be more of the concern which characterised last season on the horizon.
In other Everton news, Alan Myers has shared what the club now wants for signing number six of the transfer window.
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