"Real financial burden" - Journalist fires Everton warning after huge £300m Goodison Park claim

Everton will be left in a sticky financial situation if they fail to maintain their Premier League status and the freezing of Alisher Usmanov’s assets will make matters even worse at Goodison Park, according to journalist Pete O’Rourke.

The Toffees are at serious risk of suffering relegation to the Championship and a host of their stars are on big-money contracts.

According to the Daily Mail, Everton are facing up to the prospect of a major wage crisis if they drop out of the top flight.

The report suggests the Merseysiders will be contractually obliged to continue paying players their current basic salaries next season even if they are consigned to the Championship.

Yerry Mina, Andre Gomes, Jordan Pickford and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are understood to be among the club’s top earners, taking home in the region of £100,000-per-week.

Meanwhile, Uzbekistan-born billionaire Usmanov has had his assets frozen by the European Union after it announced further sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The 68-year-old’s USM Holdings company began sponsoring the Toffees’ Finch Farm training ground more than five years ago and Usmanov also struck a £30million deal to secure an exclusive naming-rights option on Everton’s proposed new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

But Everton have cut ties with its Russian sponsors, including USM Holdings, and the Mail on Sunday have claimed the sanctioning of Usmanov has left Everton with a black hole of up to £300million in their playing budget.

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O’Rourke believes Everton could be in trouble financially if they were to suffer relegation to the Championship.

The journalist has hinted the Toffees may be