Everton majority owner Farhad Moshiri will be able to discuss the sale of the club with alternative buyers from Saturday, reports The Guardian.

It was shared by Andy Hunter [30 May] that 777 Partners’ exclusivity deal to complete their proposed purchase of the club expires on 31 May at midnight on the east coast of the US (1 June, 5am BST).

Everton and Moshiri will know where they stand come early on Saturday morning, with the club owner willing to open talks with other parties – he had already extended the share purchase agreement with 777 until the end of this month, despite insufficient stability to satisfy the Premier League’s ownership criteria in the past eight months.

Alternative potential buyers of Everton include Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor, who would have to sell his 45% stake in the Eagles to go through with a bid.

The Everton curtain is about to fall on 777 Partners

In the space of almost the entire 2023-24 season, the Premier League have shut the door on 777 – the saga being worsened in recent weeks by reports of a US lawsuit launched against the firm and accusations of “robbing Peter to pay Paul”.

The Guardian report notes that 777 still owe £158m in loans to MSP Sports Capital and two Merseyside businessmen, George Downing and Andy Bell, with which they have bankrolled the club as Everton undergo their venture to build the Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium in time for the 2025-26 season.

Those funds can only become club assets if 777 become majority shareholders, with the firm still Moshiri’s preferred party to whom he can hand the blue baton over, but he has given them long enough, and Everton simply must look elsewhere.

The amount of interest which will spring to life from this weekend onwards should spur Moshiri into passing Everton into a steady pair of hands, enabling a smoothness to aid the club’s financial burden and complete the stadium development on time. But Moshiri must back up his act and shun 777 for good.