Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov is looking to sell his shares in the club and join former long-standing business partner Farhad Moshiri at Everton, according to Dutch sources.
Everton have gone through a number of changes in the last 48 hours, having first sacked manager Sam Allardyce and his coaching staff – Craig Shakespeare, Sammy Lee and Martyn Margetson.
Shortly afterwards, PSV Eindhoven sporting director Marcel Brands joined the Toffees as their new director of football, replacing former Leicester scout Steve Walsh.
Twitter: RT @Everton:
| Marcel Brands has become Everton’s new Director of Football.
More: https://t.co/9uno59dPrl https://t.co/5pUgPm0ZUq (@Everton)
Meanwhile, a host of boardroom changes saw Moshiri become the club’s official majority shareholder after he bought Jon Woods’ shares, taking his ownership percentage from 49.9% to 58.9%. Former club CEO Robert Elstone also departed, with board member Denise Barrett-Baxendale replacing him.
But the club aren’t done yet, according to Dutch outlet De Telegraaf. As reported by Sport Witness, De Telegraaf claim that Everton are looking to now involve long-time friend of Brands and super-agent Mino Raiola to help move the club forward, and that move is being pushed by Moshiri and Usmanov.
Usmanov was previously rumoured to be considering joining Moshiri at Everton, which would require he sell his Arsenal shares to do so, but nothing came of it.
With majority shareholder Stan Kroenke dominating board proceedings for the Gunners, and with the American not allowing Usmanov to increase his shares, the Russian tycoon is said to be frustrated and looking to leave the club.
While proceedings are far from being complete, if indeed Usmanov does actually want to join Everton, this could be a situation worth keeping an eye on over the course of the summer.
