Usmanov seeking repayment of unspecified sums owed by Moshiri

The Russian billionaire had already been barred from entering the UK since September 2021, at which point the Football Association reportedly made it “clear to Alisher Usmanov that he would not be permitted to loan money to Everton – or any other football club”.

However, documents seen by the Guardian lay out a string of Moshiri debts to Usmanov companies – raising questions about whether Moshiri invested any of those funds into Everton.

The extent of the Russian tycoon’s previously undisclosed financial links to Moshiri also raises further questions about the wealth of the former accountant turned Premier League owner, which has been estimated at £1.6bn.

Documents suggest that Windfel Properties – a company owned by Usmanov – loaned Moshiri £70m between about 2020 and March 2022. A Moshiri-owned company also appears to have borrowed a further £75m from Windfel during that time, the papers outline.

In a series of transactions in UK pounds and US dollars, Moshiri then sold some of those USM shares – seemingly back to the company – for about £270m between 2018 and 2022, according to internal documents. The final sales are dated in the financial records as taking place in February 2022.

This is what I was getting told after the decision to go with 777 Partners left one other American investment group absolutely flabbergasted because they were wondering how this group was going to be able to find £1 Billion to fund the deal.

Yes, a price of £1B would seem a lot more realistic… but that's not the figure being bandied about. In fact, far from it.

As for your mysterious flabbergasted Americans – isn't that a story the click-bait sites would just lap up? Everton walking away from a goldmine???

Surely some ITK blabbermouth would have said something to someone and it would be hot news online. In fact, I'm calling Goodison News right now… is it alright if I use your name?

So you are saying the flabbergasted group did have the money? If so, as per Michael, I'm wondering why Moshiri hasn't invited some kind of auction then, because according to Usmanov's spokesperson, he is expecting repayment of loans following the sale of the club.

A spokesperson for Usmanov declined to discuss precise details of the funding but said: “Mr Moshiri and his companies are indeed indebted to Mr Usmanov and entities affiliated with him. We hope that the debt will be repaid after Mr Moshiri closes the sale of the Everton club, which is now being actively announced in the press.”

Source: The Guardian online.

It's allegedly the same group I've been saying have been talking to Everton for a very long time now, but it seems they have been overlooking twice now considering that MSP, were allegedly Moshiri's first choice?

There's a little bit more to this story that might prove significant one day, but I suppose this group will have to get Everton – third time lucky 0 first. Mere speculation (again) but something tells me that Usmanov doesn't seem to want to relinquish Everton, just yet.

I haven't read something so utterly unbelievable since the morning of the Southampton game in January, and can't accept that Usmanov would consider throwing himself under the bus, like our idiotic chairman eventually ended up doing to himself that day!

He's still fucking here I know, so I wonder who is trying to make mischief for our custodians?

It does indeed say loans etc to Moshiri or Moshiri companies.

But it's only speculation, so obviously The Guardian has no concrete evidence that any money went to Everton.

There does seem to be a great deal of noise around this potential takeover, if they aren't attacking 777 and the people involved with them, they're going for the Usmanov angle.

Apparently Andros Townsend mispoke about the money not being Moshiri's but was told to be careful about what he said, I think it was on BBC Five Live.

I reckon a certain person who used to allegedly frequent the Boys Pen at Goodison, is making mischief by utilising his contacts in the media, Echo, Guardian et al as many of them are generally pretty friendly towards him, if not always towards Everton Football Club.

If there is a 'story' regarding Usmanov's involvement, surely it would have arisen, with proof, long before any notion of a possible takeover at Everton became apparent.

There's a lot more to come of this type of journalism, and the performance and result on Saturday, helped to quieten it for a couple of days, but another poor performance or result will have the jackals diving in once again.

I'd prefer A N Other party rather than 777 Partners to become the major shareholders at Goodison, but we don't get to choose.

You state there is a credible third party bidding for Everton at a time when we are obviously on a financial precipice, and qualify it with "it's from someone I take seriously."

Yet no sign of it anywhere, if they are not one of the failed groups previously given exclusivity. Especially when every media outlet is feeding for scraps off this story.

Forgive me if I'm sceptical. But I reiterate I am simply a supporter who has no knowledge of the technicalities of these issues.

Given Putin's approach to deal with his rivals, I would suggest Boys Pen Bill only books ground-floor hotel rooms!!

Seems very strange the Guardian are going for broke to break Everton.

The involvement of that particular gentleman occured to me as well. The previous reports of Everton being relegated being the equivalent of going into the abyss has me thinking that Barrett-Baxendale was still working for him.

Too late, Blue Bill, the work has been on going – negotiating a takeover deal and getting Moshiri & Co clear. This will suit the independent commission and the Premier League in getting the Everton problem sorted – one amongst others in the Premier League.

The Football League will be fully supportive. They do not want the Everton problem transferred to them. I do not envisage any regulatory problem for the takeover.

Tony, there maybe another group interested, but they do not have the right backers or connections.

Anyway, we always knew that the Usmanov had his hand up Moshiri's ass from the start 7 years ago. So this news is a bit late to have any effect on the current takeover agreement or its progress.

That's before you raise more capital to fund the day-to-day operations of the club and afford money for new players. So £1bn is the least it would take to completely remove Moshiri and clear all the debt.

Unless it's a sovereign wealth fund or a supremely wealthy individual, it's unlikely to happen that way. Instead, it'll be a process that takes many years but which will focus first on boosting commercial revenue to start making inroads into the massive deficits.

It might be the sum that gets the Uzbeki thug what he wants back, but we simply aren't worth that much. The stadium might cost £750M but it's not worth that or even close without a strong anchor tenant and a lot of non-football business potential, neither of which are assured.

We are only viable for the future if the current owner, in my view, ultimately the Uzbeki, understands he needs to take a bath on his investments because things have gone badly wrong under current management and also promises not to throw people out of 4th floor windows. No, not even Bill.

I can see this getting ugly and reaching a dangerous impasse. The threat of an Abramovich-style auction with no proceeds going to the owner, is our best hope for stability and future promise, but we have no control over that, we are but passengers…

In addition concerns around potential breaches of sanctions (in the sense of who the acquirer's money actually benefits) must raise the alarm bells of any prospective purchaser?

Is anyone sane surprised?

This probably perplexes even Bill with his experience between the Devil and the Deep Blue.

Any regulatory parties involved will favour solutions rather than creating more problems, you would hope. I still predict everything will be done for takeover to go ahead. Moshiri has legal title to his Everton shares in the UK – the authorities will not want or challenge that fact.

I also reiterate that it is my opinion that parties concerning a certain gentleman, as Barry has suggested, are mischief making because they do not want the takeover to go ahead, probably for their usual self-serving ends. Moshiri will be taking less than £1B, probably a mooted £500M, and the authorities will be glad to see the back of him. What happens to the £500M after that will be dependent on the sanctions regime.

777 Partners will benefit from the money that Moshiri has left within Everton. It would be interesting to see who the individual partners in 777 actual!y are.

I do wonder what has been forwarded to the crowd-funded Guardian and the source of that information which they are so excited about???

There is no doubt that the club that is the longest surviving top flight is going to have a history like no other.

If Moshiri has had financial dealings with one of his companies, how does anyone prove it went to Everton? Am I surprised? Nope… Will anything happen? Nope… Once the club is sold, it's yesterday's chip paper.

The way I read it is that it's incremental evidence of wrongdoings by Moshiri and Usmanov.

From a football perspective, Moshiri has knowingly broken the Premier League rules about shadow owners and true sources of finance. He/they are still owners of EFC and have a considerable amount of money still tied up in the club.

It's serious. Chelsea were forced into a sale and there is currently no guarantee that the 777 deal will go through.

The other perspective is Usmanov's status of being a sanctioned person. Moshiri can't pay the money back while sanctions are in place. He'd be committing a crime under UK law.

At the moment, it's an open secret that Usmanov is the real owner of EFC. If there is real evidence and wrongdoings discovered under UK law, then it's likely to be very serious for EFC.

The German authorities have already seized Usmanov's yacht stating "through extensive investigations despite offshore concealment". What's to say that EFC couldn't be seized while a legal case is brought against them, likely running into years?

So I actually think the article is very relevant and more than just a rehash.

This story comes from someone who has been involved in this type of deal before, and the only bit I find hard to believe, is that like yourself, it's hard to comprehend that no media outlets have gone with this story Chris, especially because Everton are definitely in vogue right now.

This group were allegedly in the Titanic Hotel, knowing there was to be an announcement, and believing they were going to be Everton's new owners, and couldn't believe it when this news came through.

I could write a bit more, but like Michael K said on another thread, maybe it's best waiting to see how this pans out first.

777 Partners will look to buy the club and continue servicing the debt. I'm under the impression they would have sounded out the people who are owed, who can call in their debt, to see if that's their intention.

So you can buy the club with £400m, the remaining cash needed for the stadium, paying off debts etc are not one-off payments.

In our case, and to keep it simple, one might say there will be £750m of loans to fund the stadium to completion and £300m to buy Moshiri's shares. There's your £1 billion plus. If you apply a 10% interest rate on that £750m, you have debt servicing costs of £75m a year.

This is now where I struggle to see how the numbers stack up. I believe our current gate receipts are £16bn. That's a mighty big gap to fill to generate an extra £75bn. We certainly do not throw off that amount of surplus from the club as it stands, as we all know, so how do we generate that extra revenue. 10,000 plus extra seats and hospitality goes some way but not £75m or even close. It seems to me that the majority of the extra revenue, probably most of it, will have to come from non football use. I have no idea whether there is am incremental market of £40m or more for live events in Liverpool. That seems a stretch. Maybe there is some other revenue generating activity I'm missing but it does not appear to me from a cursory inspection that, for example, regenerating Goodison is going to yield much net income for the club.

Maybe my aversion to risk is why Josh Wander is a multi millionaire and I am not, but I wouldn't touch Everton with a barge pole with a price tag of £1bn plus. Talk about high risk, even before we talk about points deductions and possible relegation. Surely the eventual price will be much lower?

Still, it makes me think that some other significant entity is behind 777 acting as a guarantor in some way. Ready to take over the lot at a future date.

Tony’s information could well be true and passed over because Everton need a particular owner, who can expedite the shadowy financial necessities involved with our current ownership and are also a facilitator for a future takeover.

The football agents mate, is very close to one of my closest mates, so I’ve just rang him then and he said that he doesn’t believe that the deal is dead, because he has heard that Everton, have already been back in touch? (Please Ban Goodison News from this website Michael K, before they offer me a five year contract!)

Everything is just pure speculation until something really happens, but surely it’s safe to say that Everton is absolutely rotten behind the scenes? Very, very murky, but I suppose that is how the club has operated since a very desperate man bought Everton?

Yes, it would be nice just to worry about the team, which we have always done, but it is the accountants and the people they were accountable to that have got into the terrible financial mess we are in now.

We can help them, sometimes, when they are on the field but can do little to help what goes on off the field.

We're just upset because all that splurging didn't improve Everton's position at all, and may have actually made it worse. As I said. We are complaining about things we cannot control and are way above our pay scales.

That desperate plucky little man has kidded thousands and with the help of his friends in the media, has done a great job for nobody but himself.

Just speaking for myself, I'm complaining about the way the club has been run for years and years – long before Moshiri & Usmanov entered the scene – and not enough people complained all those years ago when it was becoming more evident the way the club was being run.

So you are correct in a way: it's no use crying over spilt milk, but it should have been much better if people who knew what they were doing had control of the club.

We can all guess and surmise but eventually they will have to come clean. My guess is it won't be pretty.

If we hadn't survived by the skin of our teeth the past 2 years and been top half at least, then there wouldn't be any investigation.

Man Utd are £1 billion in debt, Chelsea spent a billion since Buehly took over, No problem. We have lost £300 miliion over three years and the shit hits the fan.

As our 'Merican cousins say, Go Figure!

Everton’s financial future could be in doubt unless takeover approved

Not one single thing in that new article that is new. It is the same regurgitated stuff The Guardian, "Goodison News" and The Esk revive every few days. None actual tangible evidence just hearsay based on what public information we all are privy too.

It was really nice last Saturday just to enjoy a winning game of football. But all the doom mongers couldn't let us have a whole five days to enjoy it before saying the same things they've been repeating over and over for months.

The sooner these pricks are out of our beloved club,the better and that goes for Kenshite too!

Some argue they will saddle us with debt, well that ship sailed, we are saddled, not just saddled, we are saddled, pulling a cart, with a caravan on the back, stuck in the mud, sinking as we watch.

A new approach, with new ideas, new appointments, professional people at the club is what's needed. Be that 777 or Tony A's mates, dogs cousins step dad's consortium.

I'm willing to give anyone willing to throw £400m at this mess of an institution a fare chance, because we have no choice, the current owners and board have washed their hands of us.
We need to move forward !!

Is that a report or merely opinion?

The club will still be around long after the deadbeats at the Guardian are 6 feet under along with bullshit Billy and his sidekick and cronies.

Let's enjoy the turnaround in fortunes on the pitch and, as Sean Dyche says, ignore the noise outside.

Do we take our medicine if palatable, or string it out with appeal after appeal? 1 charge for us; 100+ for Man City, which will rumble on for years. Do we follow City in dealing with such things, or pay up and look good?

I'm hoping for a slap on the wrist and move on. We can't (allegedly) pay a fine, and will have to sell player(s). Transfer embargo for 1 or 2 windows is hopefully unlikely. A points deduction would be a real kick in the teeth, and see the club come crashing down together with the sale price.

Finally I'd just like to thank Bill for getting us in this mess, and for Moshiri & Usmanov for letting him. How does Kenwright sleep at night?

So you do think that Moshiri is selling his shares for financial reasons? I vouch that he has been given the strong impression by the regulatory authorities that he should sell his shares.

What's more, they have been working all Summer to facilate that and then will probably hand over Moshiri to the sanctions authorities, who are giving full approval to their methods.

What happened to Abramovich was high profile by low profile authorities, which appeared to verify the 'leave the Chairman in charge' and arm's length approach at Everton.

Also Moshiri is a British Citizen unpaid for, so he is afforded respect that Abramovich never got. But the low-profile authorities are still operating and in cahoots with the football authorities.

It's the way the British have operated since time immemorial, although the British press will try to give the impression of some fantom knee-jerk reaction, which is never the case.

You thank Bill for getting us into this mess and Moshiri & Usmanov for letting him. I would turn that round. I would thank Moshiri & Usmanov for getting us into this mess and Bill for letting them. It seems to me all the key decisions were taken by Moshiri and Usmanov with the chairman and board silently acquiescent.

I sincerely hope you're wrong! But then we are no longer a big hitter, so can be disposed of as the powers that be, deem necessary.

Minimum suspended sanction is the best we can hope for, and move on — or fight it like Man City… no chance!

I agree.

A lot can be laid at Kenwright's door but this incredible descent into near oblivion is the work of Dumb and Dumber – Moshiri and Usmnov.

This highlighted the weakness of trying to run a money-laundering operation at arm's length by the Russian Mafia. Everton would have still been heading to a showdown with the independent commission without Kenwright & Co but would have been at the other end of the Premier League table.

Everton already have a transfer ban in place and a points deduction would result in the loss of recoverable monies for the authorities. Everton will get a ticking off having worked with the authorities.

Moshiri and associated monies will be quietly stripped by the authorities after he sells his shares in Everton and a stadium on Merseyside will be opened with politicians justling to stand in front of it talking about regeneration, not mentioning the benefits of an injection of Russian Mafia cash.

The authorities will be pleased with the evolution of a new change in the structure of the club ownership, and the likes of Kenwright, Levy, various brothers, Sheikh whoever, will be a thing of the terrible past.