These are difficult times at Goodison Park. Everton today suspended their relationship with Russian-owned sponsors USM, Megafon and Yota. All three companies are linked with Alisher Usmanov, the Uzbek-born billionaire whose assets were frozen by the European Union in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.
Usmanov is significantly higher up the oligarch food chain than Roman Abramovich. The 68-year-old was called one of Vladimir Putin’s “key enablers” last week by Layla Moran, a Liberal Democrat MP, who used parliamentary privilege to name 35 oligarchs in a list that also included the Chelsea owner. The EU described him as a “pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties to [the Russian president].”
Farhad Moshiri, Everton’s owner, is chairman of USM and a shareholder in the company. The club’s half-billion spending spree in the transfer market since the Monaco-based businessman bought the Goodison six years ago has been financed with backing from Usmanov.
Everton are already in serious danger of breaking Premier League financial fair play rules. Losing major sponsors would place the club in deep trouble. The team are struggling and are just one place above the relegation zone.
Even worse, it could put the funding for their new dockside stadium in jeopardy. This would be a calamity not only for Everton but for the city and the wider Merseyside area.
Usmanov has been one of the driving forces behind the scenes since Moshiri took control. Frank Lampard today said reports that he was interviewed by Usmanov for the manager’s job were “inaccurate” but the oligarch played a huge role in the appointment of Rafa Benitez, Lampard’s reviled predecessor.
Moshiri was not keen on the former Liverpool manager and there was serious resistance inside the club to the Spaniard getting the position. Usmanov persuaded Moshiri it was the right move but things turned sour very quickly. Benitez was sacked last month as the team slipped closer to the relegation zone.
The involvement of Moshiri and Usmanov built up hopes that the pair could bring back a semblance of respectability to Merseyside’s second club. The decision-making since the change of ownership in 2016 has been poor. Lampard is the seventh manager since Moshiri took the reins. Everton have become living proof that it takes more than spending big to succeed in the Premier League.
This new development is disturbing. Usmanov has no equity in the club but his financial input is crucial and because of that his influence behind the scenes has been much stronger than Everton’s public face suggests. USM paid £30 million for first refusal on the naming rights to the proposed new stadium. This option has also been suspended.
The deals with Usmanov-connected companies have raised eyebrows among other Premier League clubs who questioned the relationship between the sponsors and the ownership. USM also pays £12 million per year for branding at the Finch Farm training ground. Manchester City and Newcastle are the main focus for concern over funding because of their links to Gulf states but there have been low key rumblings about Everton, too.
Lampard’s team face Boreham Wood at Goodison tomorrow in the fifth round of the FA Cup. Under normal circumstances the focus would be on whether the non-League side could pull off a shock against a troubled Premier League outfit. Everton’s problems go way beyond the possibility of a giant-killing.
The club are at a particularly vulnerable point in their history. The excessive spending of the Moshiri-Usmanov era will limit Lampard’s ability to rebuild the squad in the summer. The new dockside stadium is considered vital to Everton’s future development. The enforced exit of the oligarch and his billions from the scene would change the landscape at Goodison. Moshiri is wealthy but without the backing of his mentor would find it difficult to retain the level of investment that supporters have become used to in the past six years.
The fallout from Putin’s invasion of Ukraine could have a serious impact across football. Chelsea are already feeling the effects with Abramovich putting the business in the hands of the club’s charity. There are suggestions that Stamford Bridge is up for sale.
Yet Chelsea are reigning European champions. Their west London base and associated glamour makes them a much easier sell to potential new owners and sponsors than a team languishing in 17th place in the table and in Liverpool’s shadow. Everton are more vulnerable than most clubs. It is hard to see who will fill the vacuum if Usmanov is forced to break ties with Goodison Park.
