777 Partners team confirm £17.5m loss as anxious Everton wait goes on

Standard Liege, one of the clubs in the portfolio of prospective Everton owners 777 Partners, posted losses of €20.3 (£17.5m) for the most recent financial year.

The financial results of the Belgian Pro League side were published by the Belgian national bank on Wednesday and covered the first full year of ownership of Standard Liege by Miami-based 777 Partners, who acquired the club back in March 2022.

The losses for the 2022/23 period were similar to those of the previous accounting period when the club was under the ownership of Bruno Vernanzi, with the loss for that period having stood at €20.2m (£17.4m).

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777 Partners, who hope to get the green light on their attempts to purchase Farhad Moshiri’s 94.1% shareholding in Everton this month, had sought to reduce debt, although that climbed from €23m to €24m while payroll increased by €2m, from €29m to €31m.

A number of factors were cited as being impactful in the negative results, most notably the lack of an appearance in the Belgian Pro League play-offs, the absence of European football and a less fruitful transfer window in terms of sales that had been hoped for.

Last month, Standard Liege found themselves placed under a transfer embargo by the Royal Belgian Football Association over a failure to meet transfer payments for two players, while another 777-owned side, Brazilian outfit Vasco da Gama, were also placed under a temporary embargo for similar reasons earlier last year. The embargo has since been lifted after payments due were made in December, sources state.

The published accounts state that