£250m takeover twist emerges at Everton as Finance Guru reacts to news
We’re delighted to welcome football finance expert Dr Daniel Plumley as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Everton
Dan Plumley has insisted that £250million is a fair valuation of Everton after whispers emerged of another takeover bid from 777 Partners.
Paul Brown reported on 10 August that a new bid may have been made with any confirmation on MSP Sports Capital investment yet to happen.
It comes months after 777 Partners were first linked with a £600million takeover bid of the club [Daily Mail], with Plumley admitting the drop in valuation makes more sense.
“Playing this story out in the longer term and you can see how this valuation has come down from initial valuations,” he exclusively told Goodison News.
“Certainly, for me, £250million is a much closer estimate to where I believe that club is and based on the work we do on valuation models, that feels like a much better ballpark to be in.
“That’s not what the owner wants to hear or the price he wants, but there are lots of positives moving forward with the new stadium and the chance to grow revenues that way.
“At the minute, given everything going on and the financial position, £250million is in a much better ballpark so it will be interesting to see if that gains any traction.”
Wilfried Gnonto to Everton transfer will be decided by money, PR and other clubs
The battle lines have been drawn in Everton’s pursuit of Wilfried Gnonto but it could be other clubs that end up playing a decisive role.
Leeds United quite clearly have a problem. Gnonto is training away from the first team and will not be involved in the club’s next game against West Bromwich Albion. He has already missed matches against Shrewsbury Town and Birmingham City and is the subject of an “internal disciplinary matter”, Leeds said last week.
The club remain insistent he is not for sale and hold most of the cards – as the ECHO has reported since early July, Gnonto has no release clause, is in the early stages of a long-term deal and on a wage that is considered affordable even with relegation to the Championship.
Yet having a star within the squad who is open to playing elsewhere is far from ideal and while Leeds have the power to keep hold of him well beyond the end of the summer transfer window, the thoughts of Daniel Farke and others within the hierarchy at Elland Road must also turn to the likelihood of him being able to reintegrate successfully once the year enters September.
Leeds’ belief throughout the summer has been that an Everton side operating on a limited budget would not be able to put in an offer that would tempt the club into talks that advanced any further than the Yorkshire outfit simply rebuffing bids.
Whether the club’s private valuation of the Italy international has gone down amid the instability could be tested if Everton could find the resources to continue pushing for a move. At the very least, Leeds are in a position where an offer would have to be big enough for the club to save face by accepting it.
There was some surprise within parts of Everton that the club was able to challenge, albeit unsuccessfully, for Almeria forward El Bilal Toure. So putting together a competitive package may be possible but dependent on two factors – how much Everton can raise through the outgoings of the several squad members the club would listen to offers for; and how much the club would need to part with in order to address its biggest current concern…finding cover and competition for Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
The Gnonto saga could well go down to the final days of the summer window but will not advance unless Everton can produce an offer big enough for Leeds to accept without suffering reputational loss, which may depend on what others will pay for the Blues’ fringe players.
Everton and Leeds had a good relationship going into the summer and one player has already now moved between them after Jack Harrison’s loan switch was completed this week. Harrison had been a long-term target for director of football Kevin Thelwell and while his medical on Sunday morning may have come slightly out of the blue, Sean Dyche may have dropped a hint the deal was imminent in his press conference on Thursday.
When speaking about the state of the squad and the summer plans heading into the Fulham match the Blues boss, who is thoughtful about his words, told reporters including myself “we have got a couple on loan obviously” – at that point only Arnaut Danjuma had arrived on such a deal.
Dyche was more than happy to speak openly about the impending arrival of Sporting striker Youssef Chermiti in that opening press conference, stating a deal for the 19-year-old had not yet been signed off but adding that it was close to being finalised. It is little wonder he was so confident – the Portugal youth international was at the training ground during that afternoon, being put through his paces on the training pitches.
A few days earlier I had been at Finch Farm to speak with Danjuma, the second of the four summer signings to date. In the programme for the Sporting friendly, club captain Seamus Coleman had written of the positive characters of the two deals then signed off – Ashley Young and Danjuma. The 26-year-old winger backed up that claim in person, providing a chatty, polite and positive interview.
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