EFL chairman gives Everton 777 takeover verdict and makes Todd Boehly ‘self-torture’ comparison

777 Partners must complete a top-to-bottom overhaul at Everton if their takeover goes through - according to Peterborough United chairman and co-owner Darragh MacAnthony.

Toffees majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri has agreed to sell his 94.1 stake in the club to the Miami-based firm. Moshiri has spent around £700 million since first arriving at Everton in February 2016 yet the club has posted combined losses in excess of £400 million in the past four years. Meanwhile, Everton have only narrowly avoided Premier League relegation in the past two seasons.

777 already own clubs across the globe including Standard Liege, Hertha Berlin, Genoa, Red Star and Vasco da Gama as well as holding shares in Sevilla and Melbourne Victory. Their prospective takeover has been met by scepticism from sections of Everton fans, though, with Liege and Hertha fans protesting against the investment company. The Times also reported that the British Basketball League - also owned by 777 - almost entered administration after a late payment of £825,000.

MacAnthony, speaking on his podcast The Hard Truth, reckons that 777 will need to ‘cleanse’ the entire club at Everton to turn around their fortunes. He said: “I don’t know them [777 Partners]. I’ve read their record at the other clubs, which have been the glaring headlines from the press who want to put a negative spin on things. All I ever said was the owner of Everton has put, what, £700 million in and has just been hammered. Talk about self-torture, if you want to torture yourself, waste a billion dollars - a bit like what Todd Boehly is going through at Chelsea.

“I really don’t know a lot about them - who knows? Everton seem to be that club who keep hanging on and how long can you keep hanging on until your nails snap? They seem to be on a clifftop trying to claw their way back up.

“Maybe that club needs an exorcism from top to bottom for it to build again. I know I’m a Liverpool fan but you need your derbies, you need the rivalries. I don’t want to see Everton get relegated, I want those games to mean something. Maybe they need that to happen. I’ve said that before about big clubs, you need to go backwards to go forwards.

“It’s like an exorcism, you have to go through the whole thing. We’ve gone through something like that this summer on and off the pitch - you need a cleansing. You need a bit of a blessing and maybe that’s what Everton need. If they don’t turn out to be not great owners, someone else will come in and buy it. This idea that Everton will go out of business - clubs like that never do, they’ll always get rescued.”