Everton takeover: Former Blues boss amazed by £300m claim as John Textor eyes deal

A report claims John Textor is closing in on a takeover of Everton as he negotiates a deal with Farhad Moshiri but one ex-Blues manager is amazed there has not been more interest in his former club. Since the summer of 2022, wantaway majority shareholder Moshiri, who has been in charge at Goodison Park since 2016, has been in discussions with the Kaminski Group, MSP Capital, 777 Partners, the Friedkin Group without a sale and he is now understood to be speaking to Textor, with the Athletic stating he has become the fifth prospective buyer in two years to enter into a period of exclusivity and today the Guardian saying a deal expected to be agreed by the end of the week after Moshiri visited club sites in Liverpool.

The 58-year-old Missouri-born tycoon, nicknamed “Hollywood’ Virtual Reality Guru” due to his work in digital media and entertainment, owns football clubs in France (Olympique Lyonnais); Brazil (Botafogo) and Belgium (RWD Molenbeek) while also having a 45% stake in Premier League Crystal Palace which he would have to dispense with before buying Everton. However, Sam Allardyce, one of the eight managers in as many years to have worked under Moshiri at the Blues, has expressed his surprise that other interested parties have not come forward.

Goodison News quote the 69-year-old who steered Everton to eighth place in the 2017/18 season before being sacked, as telling the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast: “There must have been some problems somewhere, but if you’re not buying Everton with what they’ve got to offer… I know by keeping in touch with a lot of people up there that the club, its financial assets and revenue streams are increasingly [growing] with the new stadium – something like £75m a year.

“That’s on top of what you get from the Premier League, from sponsors, so the revenue streams go way beyond £200m, maybe even £300m. So if that’s not encouragement, having a new stadium and a training ground not in need of development for now, everything in the stability side of things is fine.

“Only the team needs redeveloping. So I can’t understand why nobody has come in to buy it unless it’s down to due diligence.”

Previous prospective owner Dan Friedkin, who controls Italian Serie A side AS Roma, is understood to have pulled the plug on his takeover bid last month due to concerns over funds owed to controversial Miami-based private investment firm 777 Partners. However, speaking in Everton’s latest matchday programme, the club’s interim chief executive Colin Chong insisted: “While the club and The Friedkin Group jointly confirmed that we would not be progressing with their potential takeover, our relationship is still a positive one and their £200m loan helped us to finalise our stadium funding.”