Kieran Maguire

Sat 8 October 2022 12:48, UK

Everton will have no issues assuring the Government that Alisher Usmanov will not benefit from the potential sale of a sizable chunk of the club’s equity.

That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the shadow the former Toffees benefactor still casts on Merseyside.

Usmanov, a close associate of majority owner Farhad Moshiri, had several high-value sponsorship deals with Everton, including a £30million first-refusal naming rights deal for their soon-to-be new home at Bramley-Moore Dock.

But the oligarch was forced to financially withdraw from the club in March after he was sanctioned because of his relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Everton have since been the subject of interest from American billionaire Maciek Kaminski and an LA-based company co-owned by Jeffrey Soros, nephew of one of the world’s richest men, George Soros.

CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs tweeted last Friday (30 September) that the UK Government will need assurances from Everton that Usmanov will not benefit financially from the sale of any equity.

But Maguire does not anticipate that this represents a real problem for the Toffees.

“Alisher Usmanov is not a shareholder in Everton football club,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.

“Therefore there is no reason why he should be a beneficiary if the club is sold by its present shareholders.

“The current structure is that Moshiri is the legal owner of the club and he would be the one to physically sell the shares to any prospective new owner.

“Usmanov’s relationship with Moshiri has come in for comments from some quarter, but there is no evidence that he has any decision-making power or any equity as far as the club is concerned.

“Therefore, it’s difficult to see how he would be a financial beneficiary should the club be sold.”

In other news, pundit suggests Everton could now sign Conor Coady for “nothing” after journalist’s new reveal.