Fresh concerns have been raised over 777 Partners, Everton’s prospective new owners, after another of their clubs failed to meet payments on three transfers costing about €5.2m (£4.5m).
The Brazilian side Vasco da Gama were hit with a transfer ban by Fifa on Friday after three clubs – Lille, Nacional of Uruguay and Atlético Tucumán of Argentina – notified world football’s governing body that they had not received fees for Léo Jardim, José Luis Rodríguez and Manuel Capasso respectively.
Capasso joined Vasco for €1.4m in February, Rodríguez signed for €1.8m in January and, although the fee for Jardim was undisclosed, Lille were due to receive a reported €2m for their goalkeeper in January.
Vasco, who are 70% owned by 777, missed a deadline to complete payments on all three deals before being sanctioned by Fifa, who said: “The club Vasco de Gama is currently prevented from registering new players due to an outstanding debt. The relevant ban will be lifted immediately upon the settlement of the debt being confirmed by the creditor concerned.”
While the Brazilian transfer window is closed until January, giving Vasco time to make the overdue payments and have the ban lifted, their predicament raises more questions over 777’s resources as it attempts to buy Everton from Farhad Moshiri.
The Miami-based company, which was late with a £900,000 payment to the British Basketball League this year, prompting an ongoing investigation by the BBL into its co-owners, needs approval from the Premier League, Football Association and the Financial Conduct Authority to complete its takeover of Everton.
The deal for Moshiri’s 94.1% shareholding is understood to be performance-based, with the British‑Iranian billionaire unlikely to receive the £500m he was seeking for the club, but 777 still needs to provide proof of funding to the Premier League, repay a £140m loan to MSP Sports Capital and secure the approximate £200m required to complete work on Everton’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.
The club has outstanding loans in excess of £350m, including a recent £20m loan from 777 for short-term working capital, and faces a serious financial crisis unless a takeover proceeds. Moshiri has stopped propping up the club having invested over £750m for little reward since 2016.
Josh Wander and Steven Pasko, the co-founders of 777, and its CEO, Don Dransfield, were at Goodison Park on Saturday to see Everton lose 2-1 to Luton, their fourth consecutive home league defeat, the club’s worst run from the start of a season at home since 1958.
The investment firm has seven football clubs in its portfolio – Vasco, Genoa, Sevilla, Hertha Berlin, Standard Liège, Red Star in France and Melbourne Victory.
