Ex-Everton chief Keith Wyness has suggested Farhad Moshiri may not have been “calling the shots” during the period of overspending which saw the club deducted 10 points.
The 66-year-old, who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs, highlighted rumours about Moshiri’s business partner, Alisher Usmanov, being present for managerial interviews and leaning on advice from key agents.
Last month, Everton were ruled by an independent commission to have breached the Premier League’s financial and sustainability rules and were subsequently handed a 10-point deduction.
Football Insider revealed last week (24 November) that Moshiri “didn’t come across well” and was “slaughtered” by members of the expert panel after insisting on representing the club at the hearing.
The British-Iranian businessman owns 94.1% of Everton – but has agreed to sell that stake to US-based investment firm 777 Partners.
Usmanov and Moshiri collaborated to invest in Arsenal in 2007 and the former’s companies USM and MegaFon were sponsors of Everton until 2022.
The agreement ended as a result of British sanctions against Uzbek-Russian businessman Usmanov in light of the invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness said: “It seems to me, and this is my own opinion, that Moshiri was not the one leading the whole situation.
“I think there may have been others. Usmanov has always been the name that has been in the frame.
“That’s where we might want to see some more information about who was really calling the shots.
“There have been rumours about Usmanov being in managerial interviews, and even listening to key agents more than anyone else from the club. I would stress that those are just rumours.
“But they do seem to make sense when you look at the mess that has gone on in terms of the spending.
“If the executive team are being overruled to a certain degree, then that could have led to the situation Everton are in now.”
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