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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Sam Carroll

Every word Frank Lampard said on Alisher Usmanov and USM after Everton suspension

Frank Lampard has hit back at reports he was interviewed by Alisher Usmanov for the Everton job.

Lampard also insisted he had 'absolute faith' Everton would make the right decisions after the club announced they had suspended all commercial ties with USM - owned by Usmanov - as well as affiliated companies Megafon and Yota with immediate effect.

USM first entered into an agreement with Everton in 2017 as the club training ground was re-named USM Finch Farm.

Numerous deals followed with affiliates but all have been suspended due to the Uzbekistan-born billionaire having ties with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who has launched an invasion of Ukraine.

READ MORE: What Everton USM decision means for new stadium and kit sponsorships

READ MORE: Everton suspend all USM deals as statement released after Alisher Usmanov sanctions

Lampard said: "Those reports are inaccurate.

"My interview was with the board, Mr. Moshiri, the chairman [Bill Kenwright], Denise [Barrett-Baxendale] the CEO. Not Mr. Usmanov. That's inaccurate in that sense.

"In terms of what is changes? I think in the short-term we can see from the outside, how we reacted as a club against Manchester City, the steps we make and those are not my decisions.

"Those are decisions from above me in the club, that we are doing the right thing as a club, and in the short time I've been I've no doubt we will react in the right way.

"Did it affect my training session this morning or how we prepare for Boreham Wood? No. That's just where it's at."

Lampard also confirmed Ukrainian left-back Vitalii Mykolenko will start against Boreham Wood in the FA Cup on Thursday after emotional scenes with countryman Oleksandr Zinchenko before the defeat to Manchester City on Saturday.

Everton will remove USM, Megafon and Yota branding from Goodison Park while LED advertising boards around the playing surface will not feature USM, Megafon or Yota, as was the case against Manchester City on Saturday.

The official matchday programme will not feature any USM branding while further changes are to be made away from Goodison Park.

Lampard added: "It's a difficult question in the sense I was asked in my last press conference about club ownership but I don't think managers can be held accountable for that.

"The last one I know was the Newcastle takeover which seemed to take months for the Premier League and people in the know to come to the conclusion they come to.

"As a coach, if you start considering every possible angle, it's quite difficult. Your remit is to look at the club, what you can do for the club, and be the best employee you can absolutely be if and when you get the gig.

"That's absolutely how I looked at it. I didn't go any deeper than that.

"I think that in the short time I have been at the club, working personally with people who really matter at the club, and as I say I interviewed with the board and have a really close relationship with the board, I had absolute faith they were making decisions in the right way.

"Last weekend against Manchester City I thought we were one of the forerunners in behaving well and showing solidarity and unity in the right way.

"I think today is a show of us, as a club, doing the right thing. It's a suspension, as the statement said, and I think it was the right thing to do.

"And at that point, for me, it's very important I concentrate on the football and what's in front of us, which is to concentrate on the game tomorrow.

"If it feels right for the club it is the right thing to do. That's a club decision. As a coach, member of staff, our jobs haven't changed. We have a deep empathy and emotion to what's happening in the world."

In January 2020, USM signed an agreement with Everton which granted them first refusal over stadium naming rights at Bramley-Moore Dock.

A one-time payment of £30m was made while USM hold the right to take up an option on naming the ground in the future.

The ECHO understands this agreement has been suspended for the time-being, with no decision on stadium naming rights forthcoming as things stand. A decision will be made in the future.

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