Everton face being plunged into administration — landing them a NINE-POINT hit.
Farhad Moshiri’s Toffees have consulted insolvency experts as would-be owners 777 Partners suffered another major financial blow.
The US investment group saw their Aussie regional airline Bonzo call in the receivers on Tuesday.
It is a further sign that Everton’s £500million takeover, agreed in September, could be doomed.
As SunSport revealed, US insurance giant A-Cap are cutting ties with Miami-based 777
That will leave them searching for new backers to fund the deal with Toffees owner Moshiri.
Everton are 11 points above the Premier League drop zone with three games to go, despite being docked eight points this term already.
But the club are confident they will not be forced into administration — an automatic nine-point deduction — after 777 pumped in another £16m to meet immediate bills.
The US firm have loaned nearly £200m to Everton, to keep afloat a club that owe them £500m in total.
But 777’s growing issues mean the Premier League will almost certainly block their takeover bid.
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Moshiri is now looking at potential owners while interim chief exec Colin Chong seeks further loans from elsewhere.
Sean Dyche has steered Everton out of relegation trouble despite the docked points, achieving safety following three successive wins.
But the Prem issued a statement confirming the Toffees are not yet out of the woods because of the appeal they made against their points deduction.
The statement read: “Following their defeat to Newcastle, Sheffield Utd are relegated pending Everton and Nott’m Forest’s points-deduction appeals.”