Prospective Everton owners 777 Partners have seen one of their current clubs hit with a transfer ban by FIFA.
The US-based investment firm currently owns Vasco da Gama in Brazil, and the club has been sanctioned over missing deadlines on transfer payments.
Everton announced earlier this month that current majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri has agreed to sell his 94.1% stake in the club to 777.
However, Vasco - one of the many clubs under the 777 umbrella - have been sanctioned after being reported by three clubs, claiming that they had fallen behind on payments for players.
The partners have acquired stakes in multiple football clubs across the world in recent years, including Genoa, Hertha Berlin, Standard Liege, and Vasco.
777 have garnered a reputation of taking over clubs in financial peril and attempting to steady the ship.
The group bought a 70% stake in the Brazilian club back in early 2022, after they fell on hard times and were relegated from the top flight.
Vasco sealed promotion back to the Brasileiro last year though, and are currently just above the relegation places shortly after the midway point of the season.
However, unpaid fees in deals which saw three new players arrive at the start of the year have seen the club handed a transfer ban by football's global governing body.
Goalkeeper Leo Jardim and right-back Puma Rodriguez have featured prevalently since arriving from Lille and Nacional respectively, but their moves - along with Manuel Capasso's from Atletico Tucuman - have landed the club in trouble.
Vasco are behind on payments which should have seen them pay £1.6m to Nacional and £1.2m to Atletico Tucuman, while the outstanding figure left on Jardim's deal was not disclosed.
The club now cannot register any players until the fees are paid in full, but they believe that it will all be sorted before the end of the year, when the transfer window reopens.
Many of Vasco's problems occurred before 777's arrival, due to debts which piled up under their previous owner, but with these three deals going through under the jurisdiction of the firm interested in buying Everton, the Toffees' faithful may be a little worried.
High-ranking members of 777 have been on Merseyside this week, meeting club officials, manager Sean Dyche, and Liverpool Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram, among others.
Any impending takeover remains subject to approval by the Premier League, the Football Association, the Financial Conduct Authority and the UK Government.
Andrew Delaney
