Peter Kenyon, the former chief executive of Manchester United and Chelsea, is leading a bid to buy Everton.
Farhad Moshiri, the club’s owner, is understood to be open to financial ideas for the new stadium’s funding.
He hasn’t ruled out selling the club’s equity shares, though.
Kenyon, who is now a director of football consultancy firm Opto Advisers, has been involved in several deals in recent years and was associated with a bid for Newcastle United before a Saudi-backed consortium bought the club.
Maciek Kaminski and John Thornton, two wealthy US-based businessmen, are said to be part of the group formed by the former Chelsea director.
The Telegraph was the first to disclose that talks are still in the early stages.
Moshiri apologized to the club’s fans last week for mistakes made during a “difficult” season in which the club came close to being relegated from the Premier League.
Moshiri also restated his intention to build a “fully funded” £500 million stadium at Bramley Moore Dock, which is now under development, while promising to avoid the transfer market blunders that cost Everton £372 million over three seasons.
Since purchasing Everton shares in 2016, Moshiri has invested more than £600 million in the club. In January, he upped his ownership of the club to 94.1 percent.
Everton’s lucrative sponsorship arrangements with Russian companies USM, Megafon, and Yota, which are all wholly or partially owned by billionaire Alisher Usmanov, a close business partner of Moshiri, were stopped last season due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Recall that following the invasion of Ukraine, the European Union placed a freeze on Russian businessman Usmanov’s assets.
USM paid £30 million for an exclusive naming rights option on the new 52,000-seat stadium, which will open in the 2024-25 season.
Last season, the Toffees were battling for survival under Frank Lampard, the former Chelsea midfielder who took over as manager in February after Rafael Benitez stepped down.
They were only guaranteed to stay up after winning their penultimate match of the season, ending 16th and four points clear of the relegation zone.
For the third consecutive season, the club lost more than £110 million in March, bringing the total to £372 million since the start of the 2019-20 season. Everton attributes £170 million of the £372 million loss to loss in revenue because of the Covid-19 epidemic.
Fans have criticized Moshiri and chairman Bill Kenwright for how the club is governed, particularly the unpopular selection of former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez last summer.
