In unguarded moments over the past few weeks Josh Wander has been heard bragging about how he is about a write a cheque for several hundred million pounds to take control of Everton, a boast that must have come as music to the ears of the club’s current owner, Farhad Moshiri.
The Iranian has been looking for additional investment since his former business partner, Alisher Usmanov, was sanctioned by the UK government 18 months ago and has now entered negotiations over selling to Wander’s American private equity company, 777 Partners.
As co-founder of 777 with Steve Pasko, Wander is a colourful character who likes to pair a baseball cap with business suits, party with NBA stars such as LeBron James and claims his companies control over £5billion of investments.