Everton owner Farhad Moshiri has opted against selling the club amidst concerns that a sale could attract scrutiny from the government due to his links with sanctioned oligarch Alisher Usmanov.
Moshiri is understood to have received several serious bids for Everton, which he values at £500million, but is not pursuing any of them at present, with New York-based investment fund MSP Sports Capital expected to take a minority stake instead.
Government sources have told Sportsmail that they are monitoring a possible sale of Everton, with their interest heightened by the publication of a White Paper on the creation of an independent regulator last month which will give them so-called 'back-stop powers' to prevent takeovers.