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Kieran Maguire: Everton handed £36m boost as Usmanov role explained
Alisher Usmanov is not classified as a ‘related party’ despite his close links to Everton – good news for the club’s commercial income.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about sweeping new Premier League sponsor reforms.
The Times reported on 29 October that Premier League clubs have moved to implement a temporary ban on new related party sponsorship deals.
This move is with a view to preventing clubs from striking inflated-value partnerships in order to circumvent financial fair play regulations.
Usmanov has a £30million first-refusal agreement in place for the naming rights at the Toffees’ new Bramley-Moor Dock stadium.
The Russian billionaire, who has close ties with owner Farhad Moshiri, also sponsors the club’s Finch Farm training complex in a deal worth £6m.
But Maguire explains that Everton need not worry about their relationship with Usmanov under the new legislation.
“These deals will now be assessed on an ex-post basis,” he told Football Insider correspondent Adam Williams.
“The deal will be signed and if there is a query regarding the fair market value, it will go to an assessment.
“In the future, it will be done on an ex-ante basis whereby if you’re planning a related-party deal, it has to be assessed before it’s signed.
“This is a major refresh, make no mistake. But in the case of Everton, they aren’t related-party deals.
“Usmanov has nothing to do with Everton on a shareholder basis. A ‘related party’ is defined as a corporate entity that has control of the company.
“By ‘control’, it means over 50 per cent of the shares or the ability to make appointments to the board of directors.
“Usmanov doesn’t count as any of those.“
In other news, pundit shares “brutally honest” verdict on Everton sacking Rafael Benitez after inside source’s update.