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Everton: Huge boost on Merseyside can see the Toffees eclipse rivals and enter new era – opinion

Everton have endured mixed fortunes during this Premier League campaign. After they were left in the relegation zone just before the festive period, following a 5-2 defeat to rivals Liverpool, they parted ways with boss Marco Silva and former Toffees player Duncan Ferguson steered the ship back towards safety before Carlo Ancelotti was appointed.

The highly decorated Italian had a wonderful honeymoon period on Merseyside and brought the club back into the European battle before the season was abruptly postponed. The two-time Champions League winning manager is ushering in a new era on the pitch for Everton, and soon that will be in the location of the Bramley-Moore dock where their new home is being built.

It has been revealed that majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri is close to signing a naming rights agreement for the new venue with close friend and business associate Alisher Usmanov in a lucrative sponsorship deal. The deal is reportedly going to bring in around £200m for the Merseyside outfit over a ten-year period and is reportedly very close to being finalised.

Should the sponsorship deal be signed, it will make Everton’s stadium naming rights agreement the third most lucrative in the Premier League, behind Manchester United, £26.75m, and Manchester City’s £21.9m. The Toffees would thereby eclipse local rivals and runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool, £16.9m, as well as Tottenham Hotspur, £17.5m, and Chelsea’s £16.75m. Given that Moshiri has ploughed £350m into the first team since he arrived, as well as helping to finance the stadium move, this ten-year advertising deal will represent a significant recuperation on his investment.

To this point, the vast sums the Toffees’ owner has ploughed into their starting eleven is yet to have the desired effect, as Everton have not cracked the Premier League’s top six with Moshiri as owner. This term they reside 12th in a tightly congested top-flight mid-table, with the outside possibility of challenging for a place amongst Europe’s elite.

The sponsorship naming rights deal is a massive boost to Everton and could provide the financial push required to finally eclipse their seventh-place finish under Ronald Koeman in 2016/17. Should Moshiri nail down the deal, there can be no doubting that the Toffees have an opportunity to push on and establish themselves within the Premier League’s elite.

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