Former Everton CEO Keith Wyness has called for the Premier League to bring in more support to make a decision on 777 Partners’ proposed takeover of the club.
During an episode of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old, who was CEO at Goodison Park from 2004 to 2009 and now advises elite clubs through his football consultancy, questioned whether the league is dedicating enough resources to reach a verdict on the US-based investors.
Although 777 Partners reached a £500million takeover agreement with Everton chairman Farhad Moshiri in September, they are still awaiting approval from the Premier League. Concerns have also arisen regarding the group’s funding sources and their actions at other clubs, such as Belgian side Standard Liege.
According to reports, 777 Partners have loaned Everton approximately £190million for stadium construction and operating expenses.
Wyness expressed his discontent with the Premier League’s handling of the Everton takeover delays, stating on the Insider Track podcast, “We received more negative news about 777 Partners this week – regarding their reinsurance company and credit ratings. I don’t know if that’s been helpful, and I don’t know what the Premier League’s view on that is. But again, we’re stuck in terms of timings. The Ratcliffe takeover at Man United was approved in 51 days, I believe we’re almost at 180 days to approve the 777 deal.”
He continued, “There’s due process, I understand that – but are the correct resources being applied by the Premier League to do things in a timely fashion? It doesn’t seem to be the case, for me. The Premier League has a lot of money to bring in the resources it needs to come to a conclusion. I don’t know why it hasn’t been done more expeditiously given the impact it’s now having on the competition.”
