Everton news: Pundit ‘really worried’ for Frank Lampard as £300m ‘black hole’ reported
The sanctions placed on Alisher Usmanov have left Everton in a “really worrying” predicament, according to Noel Whelan.
The former Leeds striker, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, claimed manager Frank Lampard, 43, could be forced to sell his “top players” in the summer window.
As confirmed in a statement on Wednesday (2 March), Everton have suspended all commercial deals with Usmanov’s companies, after the Kremlin-linked billionaire was hit with sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to the Daily Mail (5 March), the relegation-threatened Toffees now face a “black hole” of up to £300million in their playing budget.
Whelan suggested the only thing Lampard can do to alleviate the “worry” is “get the job done on the field”.
“It’s worrying for Everton because a lot of money comes in from these businesses,” he told Football Insider‘s Ewan Kingsbury.
“Frank Lampard certainly won’t be wanting to sell his top players to compensate. They’ve got the massive new stadium hanging in the balance too.
“Lampard will be hoping, if they stay up, to keep his best players and have some funds to add even more.
“But there’s nothing to say they won’t go down this season. The implications of all of this are really worrying, and everything that’s going on is just compounding that worry.
“They’ve got to make sure they get the job done on the field. Everything else will be left to the people upstairs.”
Usmanov-owned firms USM and MegaFon sponsored the Finch Farm training base and women’s team respectively.
The billionaire also had a deal in place to sponsor Everton’s new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium.
The Toffees sit just one point above the relegation zone after yesterday’s 5-0 loss against Tottenham.
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