Everton owner Farhad Moshiri has again insisted the club is not up for sale.
The denial follows a report in The Guardian last night which claimed the he had appointed Deloitte to handle the sale and hoped to recoup the money he has invested in the club’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.
Moshiri has made no secret of his desire to attract new investors in the club, but late last night he insisted to The Liverpool Echo that “the process to secure funding for the completion of the club’s new waterfront stadium remained ongoing” but “stressed the club was not for sale.”
Moshiri has repeatedly stressed that the club, which currently sits in the Premier League relegation zone, has just sacked manager Frank Lampard, and faces construction costs of over half a million pounds for its new stadium, is not for sale in recent months.
His most recent denial, prior to last night’s conversation with the Echo, came in an interview with the club’s Fan’s Advisory Board filmed before the weekend’s West Ham defeat.
Moshiri said in the interview: ““The club is not for sale but I’ve been talking to top investors, real quality, to bridge the gap on the stadium. I can do it myself and the reason I want to do it is to bring top sport investors into Everton…we are close to having a deal done.”
The club’s last three sets of accounts show combined losses of over £372m, compounded by the loss of sponsorship income from sanctioned Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov’s companies and £700m of player purchases against £400m of transfer income.
If the club were to hit the market, it would be the third giant North West football brand currently sitting in the shop window. The owners of rivals Liverpool and Manchester United have both confirmed that they are open to offers for their clubs recently.
