A new twist has emerged in the potential sale of Everton. Two American investment groups are reportedly duelling to take over the team officially.

The Merseyside club is currently embattled in a series of financial issues and a relegation battle.

It was reported earlier this week that 777 Partners were the clear favorites to purchase Everton from Farhad Moshiri.

The British-Iranian businessman is supposedly asking for around $745 million for the team. 777, a Miami-based investment group, is led by Joshua Wander and Steven Pasko.

The conglomerate was founded in 2015 and has already invested in multiple soccer teams. This includes Sevilla, Standard Liege, Genoa, Vasco de Gama, Hertha, Red Star, and Melbourne Victory.

777 Partners want to learn Everton’s fate before buying club

While 777 Partners remains interested in Everton, they reportedly want to wait and see if the club can avoid relegation before deciding.

The Toffees entered the weekend sitting 17th in the Premier League table. Two more matches remain on the fixture list before the campaign ends on May 28th.

Mail Sport is claiming that while 777 have supposedly met Moshiri’s asking price, they want guarantees that the club will remain in the English top flight. This would force the potential sale to stale for at least a week.

Fellow U.S. investment group eager to get deal done

Nevertheless, MSP Sports Capital have seemingly leapfrogged over 777 Partners in the pecking order. MSP is a global private equity firm led by Jahm Najafi. The billionaire previously had an interest in purchasing fellow Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur.

Najafi’s group is apparently ready to offer Moshiri the $745 million regardless of whether the club is relegated or not.

MSP’s willingness to get a deal done could fast-track a deal with Moshiri. The aforementioned British news outlet claims that a deal could be done as early as next week. Like 777, MSP also had ties with several European soccer clubs. This includes Denmark’s Brondby, Portugal’s GD Estoril Praia, and AD Alcorcon in Spain.

Photo credit: IMAGO / Matthias Koch