Everton news: Mills issues one-word verdict on Dominic Calvert-Lewin sale after £30m news
Everton will not be forced into the sale of key players like Dominic Calvert-Lewin despite their ongoing sponsor crisis.
That is the view of ex-Man City and England defender Danny Mills, speaking exclusively to Football Insider as Everton face an annual sponsorship income shortfall of £30million.
The latest blow came on Friday (4 March) when the Athletic reported shirt sponsor Cazoo has exercised a break clause and will cease their partnership at the end of the season.
While that decision has nothing to do with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine the club suspended their deals with Russian companies USM Holdings, MegaFon and Yota because of the conflict.
They are owned by Uzbek businessman Alisher Usmanov, whose assets were frozen by the UK on Thursday (3 March).
All that will add up to a £30million shortfall per annum.
Asked whether that could see Everton being forced into selling Calvert-Lewin, Mills told Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley: “No.”
He added: “I think there will be an awful lot of this and it will take a long time to unravel. We’re talking 18 months, two years.
“Everybody is doing what they see right at the moment and rightly so, disassociating themselves with certain things.
“But you have to go down and start looking at every single investment at every single club, every single board member and there’s probably a lot more with links to Russia than you think and some we’re not aware with.
“It’s easy with Everton and USM as one of the main sponsors, you can see that, it’s quite loud and proud. But there will be others in there at different clubs.
“I don’t think it will be a massive issue. We’re all sympathetic to the situation in Ukraine. Clubs are doing what they think is best for the here and now.”
In other news, Kieran Maguire has issued a ‘huge’ claim after an ‘unusual’ Alisher Usmanov-Everton twist.