29 May 2024 08:51:56
And now it starts. Fire sale at Everton, Branthwaite £40m from £80m plus a number of other senior players.
Well it was always going to happen and to be honest expected.
Clubs know our situation and the need to get money in before the end of June, therefore they will put pressure on us to sell cheaply.
Unfortunately this is life at Everton.
29 May 2024 09:58:14
I'd rather keep Branthwaite than give him away. But unfortunately we aren't in a good position. Maybe 60 with clauses will be our best bet. But if we are selling him, hopefully a bidding war is the best option. But with the ffp problems we had, clubs are going to be extra careful!
29 May 2024 10:27:45
There is very little chance we sell Branthwaite for a low fee - we all know we’re in a mess financially but everyone also knows that Branthwaite is our most saleable asset and imagine that if we are to sell there would be several clubs interested in him.
If for some reason there weren’t several clubs in for him I’d imagine we’d rather keep him than sell him for a low price, particularly with the Euros coming up and the possibility he plays and his value increases.
There are loads of nonsense stories around regarding players we’re interested in even though we have no money and players we’re going to sell for peanuts.
29 May 2024 10:36:20
More than one team will be keen and we can drive a deal to the higher bidder, unless Branthwaite himself digs his heels in an insists on going to one team.
29 May 2024 11:49:16
Ginger, you are right mate but this is Everton after all and if the way we have operated over the last decade is anything to go by, then we probably will be bullied into selling low, which is a disgrace.
I would genuinely rather take the pts deduction and get full value for our saleable assets tbh.
There is nothing worse than reading things like "Ratcliffe tells Everton that Man. Utd will not pay over the odds for Branthwaite".
If we value him at 80m and you don't think he is worth that, then kindly eff off. Makes me laugh how buying clubs think they have a say in what a selling club values their player at. If you want him, then pay his price.
Whilst Branthwaite may not be an 80m player right now (some could argue he is given the price Maguire, Fofana, Cucurella etc went for) , there is no doubt that his value is only going to increase the more he plays football.
As TomTom rightly said, we need to protect ourselves here and if we sell him for 60/ 80m, we need to show the same diligence that other clubs do and insert a very healthy sell-on clause.
{Ed002's Note - It is not an either/or option of selling players or Administration.}
29 May 2024 12:52:04
As I understand it: We need to sell before 30th June to not fall foul of FFP again and avoid a points deduction.
Administration could be a result of not agreeing a way forward in managing the huge debt we’re in to several parties.
29 May 2024 12:47:41
Absolutely Ed002, it's a fact. We have to sell, and not only Branthwaite but many others just to survive.
We are in a critical situation financially, so £100m for probably 3 players is still a drop in the ocean to what is needed.
It was always going to get to this point at some stage as we watched the debt mounting.
29 May 2024 13:21:23
Can I suggest people stop reading Newsnow pages.
29 May 2024 13:09:12
I appreciate that Ed but surely FFP and the debt would look a lot brighter if we were able to sell our assets at their true value and not at a knockdown price because clubs know what situation we are in.
It's then a case of being penalised twice for the same issue. We have had points deductions and therefore lost out on position prize money, we have sold our better players already and some for potentially less than we could have e.g Richarlison. We have tried to get rid of players on big wages and those that have run their contracts down.
How on earth are we ever to get out of the mess we are in, if the one way we can start balancing the books back in our favour, selling players, is taken away from us?
{Ed002's Note - The club is still accumulating debt week on week and has no funding left to operate. It is not sustainable as a business. The way out is to restructure the debt under a new owner.}
29 May 2024 14:09:56
Like moths to a news now flame year after year after year.
29 May 2024 14:13:42
Ed, I think you may have alluded to previously that the FFP accounts are measured differently/ separately to other debts etc.
Say we were to find a new owner and the debt was restructured as you advise is the best solution. Would that then be a case of administration being avoided. Then if we failed to shift a player/ players before the June deadline, it would be treated separately and then another pts deduction be applied or are the two issues overlapping?
Hope that makes sense and appreciate the insight as always.
{Ed002's Note - Not to other debts, but to the club accounts. A takeover would take months to complete and the new owner would need to go through the whole process to obtain approval from the Premier League, FA and the Financial Conduct Authority - during which time the club can only accrue more debt or enter Administration whilst they wait.}
29 May 2024 15:17:10
For those accusing of following News Now stories, this is not a story it is fact!
Open your eyes to business and how they function. Evertons balance sheet looks like Colin Weirs bank balance after blowing £50m lottery win.
Cashflow, creditors and debtors and cash in bank rule business, not winning football matches.
All we have are some assets that we will have to sell quick sharp to stay viable.
29 May 2024 15:45:37
It's not a fact that we have to sell Branthwaite for 40m instead of 80m. It's just numbers the papers are throwing at it to make a story.
Yes we need to sell players, but nobody other than the selling club and the buying club know what for. Certainly some twenty year old just out of university doesn't that's for sure.
01 Jun 2024 03:56:58
The issue Everton have though is the clubs interested in their most saleable assets in DCL, Branthwaite or even Pickford all have their own FFP issues. Utd are in a pretty poor position and couldn’t even afford the loan fee for Cucurella last season, their squad needs a lot of work so they can’t really afford 60-80m with all the rest they need. Chelsea and Newcastle also have their own FFP issues. City, Liverpool, Arsenal, do any of those 3 need any of them? Liverpool maybe Branthwaite, but would that move ever happen? Money is also fairly tight on the continent outside of PSG and Bayern, can’t really see any continental clubs paying 60-80 for JB, 50m for either Pickford or DCL. There’s just not really the market out there currently.