The Liverpool Echo's Business of Football Writer Dave Powell told BBC Radio 5 Live that Everton's potential new owners 777 Partners have had very little on-pitch success: "They are a company which has a large sporting portfolio. They have ownership stakes in Standard Liege in Belgium, Genoa in Italy, Vasco da Gama and Hertha Berlin among others. They also have a stake in the British Basketball League over here.

"They have very much got a portfolio full of distressed assets and struggling football clubs, and while there has been considerable work undertaken in growing their portfolio, there’s been very little in terms of on-pitch success to suggest that this will be any different for Everton.

"The club has had five years of heavy losses and have lost more than £430m. The heavy investment that arrived at the beginning of Farhad Moshiri's reign has dried up. That has a competitive impact on the pitch, which has been seen in the last two seasons when the club have had to battle relegation.

"The stadium is under construction, and Moshiri needs to find the remaining funding for that. As well as trying to sell a football club, there’s the stadium issue which complicates matters. For Moshiri, he’s going to have to leave the club eventually with a fraction of the money he put in in the first place.

"It’s been a really bruising few years for Everton fans, and they can't seem to catch a break. There will be a lot of questions around whether becoming part of a larger organisation, a multi-club model where there’s been no real signal of success for many of the other clubs, is the appropriate cause of action."