Kieran Maguire accuses Everton of being ‘blinded by money’ amid Alisher Usmanov twist
The Everton board should be more transparent with fans about the club’s relationship with Alisher Usmanov.
That is the opinion of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the reports surrounding Usmanov and his funding of the Toffees.
The Guardian report (May 3) that Everton was funded by Usmanov while he was barred from entering the UK.
Usmanov was sanctioned by the UK following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the Toffees shareholder was told in a letter from the Home Office in September 2021 that his presence in the UK was “not deemed conducive to the public good”.
Usmanov’s nephew was serving on the club’s board when the letter was received and his companies had active contracts with the club worth tens of millions in sponsorship agreements.
Maguire is disappointed that Everton didn’t distance themselves further from Usmanov and accused the club of being ‘blinded by money’.
“I think it’s disappointing that there’s been no transparency from the Everton Board with regards to the relationship with, Usmanov,” Maguire told Football Insider.
“Given that he had been banned from the UK, you would have thought that Everton would have taken some steps to distance themselves from him at an earlier stage.
“But I think it’s a classic case of a club being blinded by money and taking checks from a variety of sponsorship arrangements which were very lucrative.
“I think if they had been straight with their fans, Everton would have a bit more credibility and that’s hanging in a fairly precarious way at present.“
In other news, Everton plot £20m raid to sign Mohammed Salisu