An American investment firm that has previously shown a concrete interest in a Tottenham takeover now appears to have turned its attention to another Premier League club.
Spurs chairman and co-owner Daniel Levy released a statement alongside their 2022-23 accounts in March which revealed that the club were seeking fresh investment.
That lent credibility to numerous reports in recent months that various investment groups are actively exploring the possibility of buying a stake in the North London side.
One such entity is MSP Sports Capital, an American group with equity in McLaren Racing as well as five football clubs worldwide.
More recently, multi-billionaire Qatari Sheikh Jassim and Formula One investors Liberty Media have been talked up as options, as well as a group fronted by mogul rapper Jay-Z.
What sets MSP apart from the rest however is that they appeared to have taken formal steps to buy a controlling stake in Tottenham, as per the Financial Times last year.
But now their focus has shifted elsewhere.
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MSP Sports Capital consider Everton takeover
Everton are in desperate need of a solution to their own takeover debacle.
Owner Farhad Moshiri agreed to sell his 94 per cent stake in the club to Miami-based 777 Partners nearly eight months ago, but the Premier League has so far refused to green light the deal.
Now the agreement is on the verge of collapse, with the British-Iranian businessman said to have serious doubts about the firms ability to fund the purchase.
But a new report from Bloomberg today claims that MSP Sports Capital are now considering stepping in to take over the club.
Crucially, MSP already have an option to take controlling stake in Everton as part of a £160m debt deal they already have in place with Moshiri.
If they acquire a controlling stake in the Toffees it will finally rule them out of a possible Spurs takeover.
Who could buy Tottenham?
While there is a finite pool of investors with the financial clout to strike a deal with Levy and the rest of Tottenham hierarchy, the club remains an attractive business prospect.
Spurs are the most profitable club in Premier League history and their revenue exceeded £500millon last season, which will be key as new FFP and anchoring rules are phased in over the next few years.
There is still interest in top-flight English clubs from Gulf-based investors and sovereign wealth funds, as well as the US private equity sector.
It remains to be seen whether ENIC Group, who have now owned Spurs for over two decades, would sanction a full or partial sale.