The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Everton

  • Everton beat Brentford to claim first win of season

    Everton beat Brentford to claim first win of season

    Everton claimed their first win of the season, beating Brentford 3-1 to end a 13-match winless streak in London league matches and move out of the relegation zone.

    The visitors enjoyed a dream start, Abdoulaye Doucoure finishing brilliantly from James Tarkowski’s knockdown to put Everton ahead after six minutes at the Gtech Community Stadium.

    Doucoure almost doubled the lead on 27 minutes, but his shot cannoned off the crossbar.

    Less than a minute later, Brentford were level through Mathias Jensen, whose low angled shot beat Jordan Pickford.

    Both teams had further chances to score in an open match, but the next goal did not come until the 67th minute when Tarkowski glanced in Dwight McNeil’s corner on the six-yard line against his former team.

    Read Also: Funke Oshonaike: How my dream of playing at 8th Olympics was dashed

    It was the defender’s ninth Premier League goal in total and sixth from a corner, the other three coming from free-kicks, all under Sean Dyche.

    Four minutes later, James Garner did well to win the ball back before feeding substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin to make it 3-1, for the forward’s first away goal in open play in two-and-half years.

    Everton climb to 15th with four points.

    Brentford, who lost Kevin Schade to a serious-looking injury in the warm-up, seemed flat throughout, having only two shots on target. They drop to 12th on six points after slumping to a second consecutive defeat.

  • U.S. private equity firm confirm Everton takeover

    U.S. private equity firm confirm Everton takeover

    Everton have been sold to 777 Partners, the struggling Premier League club said on Friday, with the U.S. private equity firm taking over from Farhad Moshiri in a deal reportedly worth more than £550 million ($685m). The Miami-based investment fund said it had signed an agreement with British-Iranian billionaire Moshiri to acquire his 94.1% stake in the club.

    “We are truly humbled by the opportunity to become part of the Everton family as custodians of the club, and consider it a privilege to be able to build on its proud heritage and values,” said Josh Wander, founder and managing partner of 777 Partners.

    Read Also: Everton agree sale to American investment fund

    The firm 777 Partners has a number of clubs in its portfolio, including Italian side Genoa and Belgian team Standard Liege, while they also have stakes in LaLiga club Sevilla and Australian A-League side Melbourne Victory.

    In the club’s statement on the sale, Moshiri said he believed 777 Partners “are the best partners to take our great club forward, with the benefits of their multi-club investment model.”

    Moshiri, a former Arsenal shareholder, first bought a 49.9% stake in Everton in 2016. By January 2022, he had increased his stake to 94.1% with a £100m capital injection.

  • Everton agree sale to American investment fund

    Everton agree sale to American investment fund

    Premier League Everton are set to have new owners after Farhad Moshiri agreed to sell his 94% stake in the club to American investment fund 777 Partners.

    The takeover would bring to an end the tumultuous tenure of British-Iranian Moshiri, who first invested in 2016.

    The sale is expected to be completed by the end of 2023, subject to Premier League, Football Association and Financial Conduct Authority approval.

    The takeover would mean half of the 20 top-flight clubs are American-owned.

    Moshiri said in a statement: “The nature of ownership and financing of top football clubs has changed immeasurably since I first invested in Everton over seven years ago.

    Read Also: Everton close to being sold to American investment firm

    “The days of an owner/benefactor are seemingly out of reach for most, and the biggest clubs are now typically owned by well-resourced private equity firms, specialist sports investors or state-backed companies and funds.”

    777 founder Josh Wander said: “We are truly humbled by the opportunity to become part of the Everton family as custodians of the club, and consider it a privilege to be able to build on its proud heritage and values.

    “Our primary objective is to work with fans and stakeholders to develop the sporting and commercial infrastructure for the men’s and women’s teams that will deliver results for future generations of Everton supporters.”

  • Everton close to being sold to American investment firm

    Everton close to being sold to American investment firm

    Premier League strugglers Everton are close to being sold to Miami-based investment firm 777 Partners.

    The financially-stricken Toffees resumed discussions with the American company after talks with MSP Sports Capital collapsed in August.

    The takeover will bring to an end the tumultuous tenure of owner Farhad Moshiri, who first invested in 2016.

    A source close to Moshiri said Everton have sought investment for a while, but the deal is not yet complete.

    Sean Dyche’s side lie 18th in the league after picking up just one point from their opening four games so far this season.

    Everton are in disarray both on and off the pitch, narrowly escaping relegation in the last two seasons, including staying up with victory on the final day last term.

    Read Also: Revealed: Why Everton accepted Fulham’s offer for Iwobi

    Next month the club will go before an independent commission for an alleged breach of the Premier League’s financial fair play rules, but Everton have denied wrongdoing and said they were “prepared to robustly defend” their position.

    In March, the club posted financial losses for the fifth successive year, taking their cumulative losses over the past five years to more than £430m.

    They are also in the process of building a new stadium on Bramley Moore Dock and costs could reach £760m, a £260m increase on figures quoted by the club last year.

    Everton and 777 did not respond when contacted by BBC Sport.

  • Iwobi plays for 86 minutes, misses begging chance as Everton win

    Super Eagles winger Alex Iwobi was in action for 86 minutes on Saturday as Everton earned a 2-0 victory over visiting West Ham United.

    The Nigerian international, who was replaced in the 87th minute by Icelander Gylfi Sigurðsson, was very impressive but missed what Everton fans considered begging scoring chance while Everton were one goal up thanks to Bernard who had shot the homers into the lead in the 17th minute.

    The former Arsenal man had a one on one situation with West Ham goalkeeper Roberto Jiménez but fired a weak shot straight at the goalkeeper to the disappointment of some of the fans who had already jumped into celebration mood.

    Interestingly it was Sigurðsson who replaced Iwobi that scored the much awaited winner in the 2nd minute of added time

    Last minute goal scorer Gylfi Sigurdsson

    Saturday’s victory is a relief for Coach Marco Silva who has endured three back to back defeats in the hands of Burnley, Manchester City and Sheffield United respectively.

    The bookmakers prior to this all important victory had tipped Silva as the favourite to be the next Premier League boss sacked and, while Everton have historically given their managers time, a fifth consecutive defeat would have pushed the Portuguese closer to the exit door.

     

  • Double headache for Iwobi as Marco Silva gets ultimatum

     

    Super Eagles forward Alex Iwobi will not only be bothered about posting a good performance against Brazil on Sunday, but will also be concerned about helping Everton Manager Marco Silva save his job.

    The Everton boss has reportedly been handed three matches ultimatum by his employers who are getting worried about the team’s unimpressive run in the season so far.

    The Daily Star says Silva has been told he has the next three matches to save his job on Merseyside.

    The Portuguese manager has endured a nightmare start to the season with the Toffees, taking just two victories from eight matches played.

    Everton, at this early point in the season, find themselves in the relegation zone and Silva has been told time is running out.

    Silva had premonition he would be sacked during the international break, following Everton’s lacklustre defeat by Burnley.

    Everton Manager Marco Silva eager gets ultimatum

    Crisis talks are said to have taken place at Goodison, during which the dooms day was delayed but Silva was informed in clear terms the results of the next three games would have large bearing on his future.

    Nigeria international Alex Iwobi who joined Everton from Arsenal in August this year for an initial £28 million, rising to £34 million with potential add-ons has blended perfectly and has been impressive in five matches he has played for the side so far.

    With the new development however there are strong indications that manager Marco Silva will apply additional pressure on his players with a view to remedy the situation.

    Iwobi currently in Singapore ahead of the international friendly against Samba Boys of Brazil is tipped to start and the Gernot Rohr tutored side attempt to perform better than Senegal who only yesterday held the Brazilians to a 1-1 draw.

  • Victor Osimhen eyes goal No. 7 as Lille tackles Nice

     

    Super Eagles forward Victor Osimhen will be hoping to continue his goal scoring adventure when Lille visits Nice on Saturday.

    Osimhen who has scored in practically in all recent outings for The Great Danes, is full of optimism that the club will post impressive run this season.

    He was quick to call on teammates to forge ahead after the 3-0 defeat away to Ajax in the Champions League.

    In the English premier league Alex Iwobi posted and impressive run in Everton’s 2-0 defeat of Sheffield Wednesday in the Caraboa cup will be hoping to maintain the momentum as the Toffees host rampaging Manchester City who were merciless against Watford in the their last premier league outing and followed it with another 3-0 defeat of Preston North End in the Caraboa cup.

    Everton ace Alex Iwobi

    Iwobi and his teammates will need all the arsenals in their armory to checkmate the Citizens who appear to have forgotten how to lose match though their 3-2 loss to Norwich city remains a reference point in some quarters.

    Although Nigeria born England junior international Tammy Abraham was missing in the score sheet in Chelsea’s 7-1 demolition of Grimsby Town in the Caraboa cup, none can rule out the possibility of his goal scoring return against visiting Brighton and Hove Albion who have sidelined Leon Balogun in their players list.

     

     

     

  • Iwobi plays for 35 minutes in Everton’s 2-0 home defeat

    Super Eagles forward Alex Iwobi was in action for 35 minutes as Everton suffered home defeat in the hands of Sheffield United on Saturday in front of their disappointed fans.

    Iwobi who joined the Toffees in a five year deal early August came in as late substitute for Frenchman Morgan Schneiderlin in the 55th minute. It was a day that appeared to have Chosen to be nightmarish for the Goodison Park landlords following an own goal by Everton Defender Yina Mina in the 40th minute.

    The early goal no doubt hit Everton below the belt and was a rather a shocker to the homers who controlled lion share possession in the ratio of 72 to 28% unfortunately all the efforts made to translate the effort into an equaliser failed to materialise.

    The Situation was further compounded for the homers when Lys Mousset scored the second goal for Sheffield United who from that point ensured they never blinked in the defence guarding their lead jealously to the end.

    Sheffield United duo celebrate Everton defeat

    Saturday’s defeat marks the third in Everton’s four premier league outings this season.

    Toffee fans did not find the defeat funny as many of them walked out before the end of the match while those who stayed behind voiced their displeasure at full time.

    Everton went into Saturday’s match fresh from a 3-1 defeat by AFC Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.

    Interestingly the Nigerian international was in action for full 90 minutes in that encounter.

    The Marco Silva tutored side have a Tuesday date with Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup and  Sheffield Wednesday may be hoping   to continue where Sheffield United stopped.

     

  • Iwobi watch Everton win Watford at Goodison Park

     

    Everton new buy Alex Iwobi watched from the bench as Toffees ran away with a lone goal victory and three points at the expense of visiting Watford on Saturday.

    The Super Eagles ace who made waves few days back after emerging the most expensive Nigerian player thanks to his €43million transfer from Arsenal, was listed among substitutes for the match that saw Everton shoot into the lead as early as the 19th minute thanks to Brazilian import Bernard.

    The homers who dominated possession and maintained the lone goal lead till the end of the first 45 minutes made every effort to increase the tally but met a brick wall in hard fighting Watford.

    Everton, who pulled a draw against Crystal Palace in the season opener, thus earned their first three points of the season with the victory over Watford.

    Iwobi displays his new club jersey

    Iwobi who confessed that he will be missing former Arsenal teammates, Emirates staff as well as visits to Hale End by virtue of his move to Everton, will be hoping to make his awaited debut for the Toffees on Friday when they face Aston Villa away  to Villa Park.

    Iwobi made 100 appearances for Arsenal between 2015 and 2019 before the move to Everton on August 8 just few weeks after helping the Super Eagles to a third place finish at the Nations cup in Egypt.

     

     

     

     

  • Henry Onyekuru seals €15m  5-year deal with  AS Monaco

     

    Super Eagles forward Henry Onyekuru finally bid goodbye to dreams of playing for Everton at least for now after he sealed a permanent deal with French Ligue 1 side AS Monaco on Monday.

    Onyekuru signed for English Premier League side Everton in 2017 but never played a match for the Toffees, rather he was immediately sent on loan to Anderlecht and from Anderlecht to Galatasaray on another loan adventure.

    The loan ritual however ended on Monday after Monaco announced it has reached and sealed a permanent deal with the 22 year old Nigerian who recently returned from the Nations cup in Egypt where Nigeria had a third place finish.

    The deal which is put at about €15m (about N6.1billion) will see the former Eupen of Belgium star showcase his skills at the Stade Louis II for the next five years.

    Onyekuru who scored 28 goals in 57 appearances for Eupen between 2015 and 2017, equally scored combined 23 goals for the two clubs he served on loan viz; nine goals for Anderlecht and 14 goals for Galatasaray.

    The new move is providing a new opportunity for Onyekuru who has been tipped to be among the would be finishers for Super Eagles following the departure of Odion Ighalo from the Gernot Rohr tutored team.

    An apparently elated Onyekuru took to the social media to describe the move as new challenge, adding “New league new challenge”

    Onyekuru will be hoping to follow the footsteps of  former international Victor Ikpeba who performed so well for Monaco while he was there that he was nicknamed “Prince of Monaco’.

    Ikpeba made 170 appearances for Monaco scoring 55 goals before moving over to Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund.

    Ironically Onyekuru’s move to Monaco is coming at a time when the club has announced it has parted ways with its Director of Sports and former Nigerian international Michael Emenalo.

    The club confirmed that Emenalo’s departure was by mutual consent.