Everton told to cut ties with Alisher Usmanov amid close relationship with Vladimir Putin

Everton have been told they should already be “cutting ties” with Alisher Usmanov.

The Russian oligarch has been sanctioned by the European Union for his ‘particularly close ties with Vladimir Putin ’.

Usmanov is a very close business associate of Everton owner Farhad Moshiri and owns the company USM Holdings, which has a £30million deal to sponsor the club’s training ground.

Everton maintain any relationship with Usmanov is purely commercial and that he does not have an influence on the running of the club.

But the link between the oligarch and Everton came up in the House of Commons, with Labour MP Chris Bryant saying: “Alisher Usmanov has been sanctioned by the European Union but not by the UK but I suspect he will be on the UK list soon.

Everton backer Alisher Usmanov with Russia's President Vladimir Putin (Alexei Druzhinin\TASS via Getty Images)

“Everton should certainly be cutting ties with him already.”

The connections with Usmanov were being discussed in the Goodison Park boardroom and a statement is expected at some point.

But the pressure is mounting on the club to disassociate itself with Usmanov.

Bryant also said that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was intending to sell his main London house AND a London flat within the next 24 hours because he is “terrified” of being one of the next Russian tycoons to face economic sanctions.