Everton’s former CEO, Keith Wyness, has suggested that the club may be looking to utilise its recent sponsorship deals to address cashflow concerns.
Speaking on the Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness, who was at the helm of Everton between 2004 and 2009, discussed the potential strategy the club might be adopting to ease financial pressure. Wyness now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs, giving his insight weight.
Everton recently secured new sponsorship agreements, notably with global brands Red Bull and Aramark. Wyness speculates that the club could be factoring forward the value of these sponsorships to stabilise finances.
He noted that this method is increasingly common in football, with clubs using future revenue from deals as immediate cash injections.
“The way that most clubs work now is that these sponsorships are factored forward, and that could be one of the things Everton are looking at,” Wyness told the podcast.
These developments come as Everton’s debt, reportedly over £600 million, has deterred potential buyers from investing in the club.
However, with John Textor securing a period of exclusivity to negotiate a takeover with current owner Farhad Moshiri, Wyness believes these financial moves might be part of a larger package to facilitate the sale of the club.
Wyness added: “The debt-funding could be one of the present borrowers increasing their limit, but The Esk has been very mysterious in his writings about this – so let’s wait for more details. Hopefully, this will be news that is part of a package to move the ownership situation forward.”
Everton’s financial struggles have been well documented, and Wyness’s comments suggest that sponsorship deals could provide some relief as the club inches closer to a potential takeover.