Sean Dyche has warned Everton could be forced to sell their best talent this summer unless the club is finally taken over. The Everton manager, who has previously likened his job to juggling sand, claims he will be reduced to “juggling dust” should the uncertainty drag into the transfer window.
A prospective takeover by 777 Partners remains in serious doubt with the Miami-based investment company unable to convince the Premier League it has the necessary funds eight months after agreeing a deal to buy Farhad Moshiri’s 94.1% shareholding. 777 Partners is also facing allegations of fraud in a civil court in New York.
With 777 so far unable to complete and Moshiri no longer propping up the club, Everton are at risk of administration unless an alternative buyer materialises. Should the impasse continue beyond 14 June, when the transfer window opens, Dyche admits the club will have no option but to “self-generate” income.
“If the [777] takeover doesn’t happen, or a takeover, then it will probably be juggling dust, not sand,” he said of his summer transfer business. “Because who knows then? You are having to self-generate everything then, I would imagine, because it’s not like there is a pile of cash anywhere so you’ve got to self-generate. And if you self-generate, how do you get in what you are losing? If someone leaves, how do you get the next one in who is as good as the one leaving? There is no time for development [of young players] because this club hasn’t got time for that.”
The central defender Jarrad Branthwaite is Everton’s most saleable asset. Dyche, who secured the club’s Premier League status with three games to spare despite having eight points deducted this season, is concerned about the impact of further player sales.
“If you self-generate it is a very tough situation because usually you sell high and buy low,” he said. “But when you buy low, who are you buying? And if you can’t buy then you have to generate from inside and that is a time thing. There are not many young players who are: ‘Right, we are ready for the Premier League.’ There was the famous Man United team but that is once. No one else has ever got five or six players together and got them to take the team forward. No one, and think about how much money goes into youth departments.”
