Arnaut Danjuma’s Everton loan is about to expire.
A move to Lyon is being considered, although Danjuma’s loan from Everton is scheduled to end.
Last week, the 26-year-old and the Ligue 1 team agreed on personal terms; nevertheless, it was later disclosed that Sean Dyche was unwilling to let him go.
Even though Dyche denied rumors that he was leaving, it appears that keeping the Dutchman around will be challenging given his attraction to the French side.
That’s according to Foot Mercato, who states that Everton has Danjuma’s successor ready, although they haven’t said who it might be.
Luiz Henrique, a winger for Real Betis, is one of several potential candidates.
Luiz Henrique may be signed by Everton on a loan.
Henrique was linked to Everton earlier this month, but the Toffees were unable to meet their demands, so there was no reason to worry about him leaving.
According to the Spanish publication Estadio Deportivo, Betis is now willing to let the Brazilians leave on loan this month, which is ideal given their current circumstances.
Kevin Thelwell, the director of football, has stated that because there are other urgent issues to attend to, there may not be many new players this month.
This suggests that Henrique might find it advantageous to pursue a loan shift.
He is undoubtedly a “diamond in the rough,” having previously attracted the attention of rivals Liverpool, Manchester United, and Arsenal, who sent scouts to watch him last year.
Across Europe’s top five leagues, the 23-year-old wide player, known for his electric pace and fleet of foot, is in the top 14% for progressive carries and the top 6% for successful take-ons.
Additionally, he has demonstrated his ability to track back, which is critical for any player in a Dyche system. Compared to his positional contemporaries, he ranks in the top 12% for tackles, clearances, and aerials won.
It would seem logical to replace Danjuma with him on a loan arrangement.
Everton, 777 Partners, and the Disputes
Recently (September 2023) it was decided that Josh Wander and Steven Pasko’s company, 777 Partners, would purchase Farhad Moshiri’s 94.1 percent controlling share in Everton FC. Based on the outcomes of the subsequent
Everton FC is being investigated by the Premier League for violating the league’s sustainability and profitability rules.
777 Partners’ capacity to pass the Football Association’s and Premier League’s Owners and Directors Test.
The Financial Conduct Authority has authorized 777 partners.
Are moral billionaires really a thing? Some people hide it better than others, and in the case of 777 Partners, alarming details about how they’ve been running their businesses and dealing with Josh Wander, the founding partner, are coming to light on a regular basis.
With a criminal record for a serious drug offense, multiple missed payment deadlines, and persistent accusations of inappropriate professional behavior, the 777 Partners legal team will be working nonstop to persuade the PL board that they are deserving guardians of one of our great clubs.
777 Partners Football Portfolio Overview
In terms of the quantity of teams they control, they are surpassed only by the City Football Group as a corporation.
They invested a minor amount of €65 million in La Liga Sevilla FC in 2018 and an additional 1200 shares in 2020, increasing their interest to 7.5%. For €175 million in September 2021, they purchased 99.99 percent of Genoa CFC.They paid €55 million in February 2022 for Standard Liège and €19 million a few weeks later for Red Star FC (France).
They became the first foreign majority shareholder in German football history when they paid €374 million to acquire Lars Windhorst’s 64.7 percent ownership at Hertha SBC in November 2022. They paid $6.1 million in the beginning of 2023 for a 19.9% share in Melbourne Victory (Australia), with an agreement to raise that share to 70% by 2028 for an extra $14.9 million.
A total expenditure of almost $700 million, and that doesn’t even account for the debts incurred by these teams. To put things in perspective, Sevilla announced before the summer transfer window that they owed €90 million, allegedly offering the entire team for sale.
Genoa lost €61.7 million in the 21/22 season; Vasco de Gama owed €24 million; Red Star owed €2.4 million; Hertha BSC lost a total of about €150 million over the course of two years; and Melbourne fell €4.5 million short of breaking even.
All told, the 777 Football Club portfolio has debts totaling approximately €333 million. You may contend that this is representative of the football world, but 777 Partners makes its money by purchasing financially troubled enterprises and making bold claims about helping troubled companies turn a profit.
Acquiring a club with debt is one thing, but continuing to infuse capital to keep it afloat—something they will need to do for the foreseeable future for each and every one of these clubs—is quite another. Numerous football finance brokers claim that 777’s business model is distinct and unlikely to be imitated. It will be extremely difficult for them to recoup their investment financially, but it’s easy to understand how they could lose a lot more.
Although there are rumors that 777 Partners has already given Everton a £20 million operational capital loan, Premier League regulations prohibit the company from making any direct stock injections into Everton until the takeover is finalized. One aspect of the owners-directors test states that a person must not have a criminal record if they hold a key role in the club; co-owner Josh Wander will find this to be difficult.
Drug trafficking charge from 2003, when the accused (21 years old) was accused of possessing 31.2 grams of cocaine with the intent to supply; the case was not disputed. Josh was identified in a number of contentious and startling court proceedings across the USA between 2009 and 2018, when less serious charges (unrelated to drugs) were brought against him:
2009: Structured Asset Services LLC, a director at the time, filed a lawsuit against Wander. Allegations that he stole trade secrets and private company information led to his dismissal.
SuttonPark Capital and its subsidiary Liberty Settlement Solutions LLC, which serves as a servicer of structured settlements for major personal injuries, were accused of some startling things shortly after Pasko & Wander founded them.
After a truck and the vehicle she was riding in collided, Lyndsy Gone suffered catastrophic injuries. Following this accident, Lyndsy received a $1 million structured settlement. After the payments were behind schedule and she developed a drug addiction, she sold her annuity for a pittance of $273,556 to a Liberty Settlement Solutions LLC affiliate.
The case filed by Lyndsy’s parents claims that Liberty kidnapped her, kept her under the influence of narcotics, and deceived her into accepting a settlement for 25% of the total amount, all in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
Bellagio, a resort and casino in Las Vegas, gave Josh a $78,000 advance in 2011. Despite numerous lawsuits from 2011 to 2018, Bellagio only paid back $48,000, leaving thousands of dollars outstanding.
created a subsidiary called Zoca Loans and signed contracts with Rosebud Lending to provide interest rates as high as 790 percent to vulnerable clients. encouraging customers who couldn’t afford their first loans to take out new ones under Zoca or extend their existing ones.
777 Partners is a company in the aviation sector that specializes in super-low-cost aviation, with 22 B737-8 aircraft in its portfolio. There are ongoing legal lawsuits against them for allegedly taking advantage of the airlines in which they own stock.
Returning to Football
Experts advise 777 couples to engage in a shell game. They assert that they are self-funded and that they contributed their own funds. However, they are unable to possess as much wealth as they claim. It’s simply not feasible. Yet they don’t require a large sum of money.
For all that, they essentially engage in money laundering. It’s a huge game of shells. The money is always being spent, and it is being spent at an ever-increasing rate.
Vasco da Gama
The Deliberation Committee of SAF, which still owns less than one-third of Vasco’s shares, called an extraordinary meeting on June 9, 2023, to discuss the club’s finances.
It was disclosed during this meeting that in November 2022, Vasco SAF had lent $5 million to a financial services company named F3EA Holdings, which is a company with 777 partners.
The majority of this loan has since been returned, but Carlos Fonseca, the head of SAF’s Deliberation Committee, described it as “an abuse of power” because it was organized without the Board of Directors’ knowledge.
Vasco de Gama received a FIFA transfer embargo on October 2, 2023, as a result of his late payment of transfer fees to several teams.
The team is late on paying payments for the transfers of Léo Jardim, Puma Rodríguez, and Manuel Capasso to Lille, Nacional, and Atletico Tucuman, respectively. Additionally, Vasco has not yet fully reimbursed the transfer fees of several other Brazilian athletes.
Genoa, SC
The Italian federation docked Genoa one point for failing to pay income tax by the deadline of December 16 in season 22/23. The club paid off the treasury after entering a guilty plea.
French team Red Star FC
On April 15, 2022, the Red Star Ultras threw smoke bombs onto the pitch during a home game against FC Sète because they were upset that American capitalists who had no relation to their history had purchased their team. The game had to be abandoned, and even though this behavior hasn’t happened again, there is still a lot of resistance to 777’s ownership.
BSC Hertha
relegated 22/23, which may have had disastrous results if the German federation had not consented to Hertha’s repayment of a high-interest loan worth €40 million being postponed. The club would have been demoted to Division 4 and lost its professional status if the DFL hadn’t been accommodating. Since then, the loan has been renegotiated to give Hertha two additional years to pay it back, but the interest rate has gone up.
Liege Standard
Saying that their future as a professional club is in jeopardy is not hyperbole. Before 777 took over in 2022, the club was already losing a lot of money and was deeply in debt. By 2023, their financial situation had not improved, and their professional license was on the verge of being revoked.
After a protracted procedure that raised major doubts about Liege’s capacity to continue as a viable organization, the club was eventually granted a license.
By December 2022, working capital was still negative. The league stipulated that it would provide monthly account updates on its three entities—the team, stadium, and academy—but as of August 2023, the commission has not been satisfied with them, casting doubt on 24/25.
Projects pertaining to football
The future of elite football in Peru is in jeopardy due to a big battle for TV rights centered around 1190 Sports, a firm financed by 777.
President of the Peruvian Football Federation, Agustin Lozano, who is currently under investigation for possible connections to organized crime, gave permission to 1190 Sports, which lacked TV infrastructure, to acquire the rights.
This decision sparked protests from several teams, who refused to play because they said they had contracts with Telefonica, a former broadcast partner.
Hernan Donnari, the CEO of 1190 Sports, entered a guilty plea in 2015 to three counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and racketeering in the famed FIFAgate corruption investigation. By working with US authorities, he was able to avoid going to prison.
1190 Sports has outsourced broadcasts to other cable and satellite companies for streaming and pay-per-view since gaining the TV rights.
This has led to an upsurge in online piracy throughout the nation. It is well known that 1190 requires 500,000 paying customers each month to turn a profit, but they are currently drawing in less than 50,000, meaning they could lose $40 million this year. As per the agreement, the clubs will be entitled to 70% of the earnings made by 1190.
However, there won’t be any profit to divide if the business can’t break even. Additionally, clubs, like all businesses, must set aside a specific portion of their TV money as working capital up front.
Returning to Everton
In order to take over Everton, 777 must persuade the club’s current lenders—who together have lent the team £350 million—not to demand an early return of their debts, as permitted by Premier League rules.
MSP Sports Capital has contributed £100 million, which was utilized to pay back a bridging loan obtained from local businessman Andy Bell, who provided £40 million back in May, as well as to secure stadium work. In addition to owning stakes in four clubs—FC Augsburg, AD Alorcon, GD Estoril, and SK Beveren—MSP has partnered with David Blitzer and his venture funds.
Although the loan to Everton is straightforward, the ultra-egos of multi-club ownership could lead them to either band together to share control or fight for it. Perhaps MSP is secretly hoping that 777 approval is not granted.
The £200 million comes from Rights & Media Funding, a business unto itself that lacks a website, phone number, or Financial Conduct Authority registration, works mostly in secret, and does not employ a single person.
While this would be ideal for 777 partners and their business model, MSP Sports Capital saw it as one of the obstacles preventing them from making additional investments in Everton during the talks for a 25% interest that took place between May and July 23.
Everton needs an additional £200 million to complete the stadium, a project that has grown by more than 50% to £787 million from its initial estimated cost of £375 million. Even though 777 Partners recently gave Everton a £20 million loan to keep things running, how long will it endure in a world where interest rates are skyrocketing and expenses are going up?
On October 2, Burnley, Leeds, and Leicester sent a combined letter to 777 Partners, the potential owners of Everton, stating that, should they be found guilty of breaking Premier League spending regulations, they will sue the team for £300 million (£100 million each).
The letter was sent on October 25th, awaiting the conclusion of an independent tribunal overseeing the Premier League. They contend that Everton should be compensated for losing out on top-tier revenue for a single season in the event of a guilty verdict.
The calls for an independent regulator will intensify if 777 Partners passes the Premier League Owners’ Association Test (OADT), and perhaps Newcastle’s owners will exhale in relief that the public’s view on ownership morality will temporarily move to the North West.
