Everton must get their finances in order if they are to continue as a club, and for the most part, Kevin Thelwell has done so.
Since his appointment in February 2022, the Director of Football has been unrelenting in his efforts to reduce the salary bill and transfer stars for maximum payments, so replacing them with low-cost substitutes.
It has been a delicate balancing act, but one that has been executed well thus far.
However, his prior failures are too numerous for him to overcome on his own, so he still requires assistance from above.
Depressingly, there appears to be no one available to give it at the present.
The Esk makes another dismal Everton forecast.
Paul Quinn, a business specialist and blogger, has summarized Everton’s fundamental failures on his blog.
He went reviewed Farhad Moshiri’s past mistakes and the implications of 777 Partners’ potential takeover before deciding on administration as the final option.
It is an eventuality that The Esk, as he is more known on X, has often foretold, but in his most recent essay, he explains why he believes it is right around the corner.
And, while he strives to propose a plan for the club to follow in order to get out of their current situation, his arguments for such a threat lingering are difficult to dismiss.
He writes: ‘Despite many people’s protests, there is still a small but realistic probability of administration. Why?
‘Because we continue to spend more than we earn operationally, we have a capital project that has yet to be completed and is still not fully funded, a massive and unsustainable debt burden, and no obvious short-term funder other than the sale of player assets, which is an unavoidable but sad consequence of where we are.
Everton can re-stabilise the club with some significant sales.
As The Esk points out, a few major expenses might help mitigate all of these unresolved difficulties.
It’s a sad state of affairs to have to constantly dump their greatest talent just to stay afloat, but given their dire financial situation, they have little choice.
Moshiri is oddly content to let the club continue to decline, despite having obviously driven them to the brink of bankruptcy, and sees 777 Partners as the only option.
However, even if the Iranians made a radical shift and sold to a new, richer buyer, their future would not be fully secure.
Jarrad Branthwaite, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and Amadou Onana appear to be Everton’s three most valuable assets that might go this summer, and given how they would all significantly weaken the club if they did, it is a sad state of affairs.
