'I'll say it for the first time' - John Textor shares new Everton takeover revelation

John Textor has claimed he was 24 hours away from buying Everton before Dan Friedkin came back in to trump him. After previously ending talks back in July, a deal for the Friedkin Group to purchase Farhad Moshiri’s entire 94.1% stake in Everton was announced on September 23.

A joint statement read: “Blue Heaven Holdings and The Friedkin Group confirm that they have reached agreement over the terms of the sale of Blue Heaven Holdings’ majority stake in Everton Football Club. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval, including from the Premier League, the Football Association, and the Financial Conduct Authority.”

As reported on Wednesday, sources close to TFG have told the ECHO that their client has maintained an eye on caution throughout this process, but everything is going fine at the moment with no cause for concern and an estimated completion date of mid-December remaining the target.

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Until the Friedkins came back in, Textor was in the box seat to acquire Everton after reportedly entering into a period of exclusivity with Moshiri in August.

During that time, Textor, who as well as having a 45% stake in Crystal Palace, also owns RWD Molenbeek in Belgium and Botafogo in Brazil, had compared the prospect of buying the Blues to being in the White House.

He told Sky Sports: “Nobody wakes up and thinks, ‘I get to buy Everton’. But if you decide football is what you want in your life, and then somebody comes along and asks you if you want to become the owner of Everton, it’s like someone asking you if you want to be President of the United States. Of course you do.”

However, the Missouri-born mogul, nicknamed ‘Hollywood’s Virtual Reality guru,’ also received a rap on the knuckles from the current top brass at Goodison Park for speaking publicly about what manager Sean Dyche’s appetite for working with South American players might be like.

But the 59-year-old continues to be candid about his intentions and has now spoken out about how close he believed he was to striking a deal for Everton.

Sport Witness cite Textor as telling Ole: “In England, we thought we were very close to Everton. I think I’ll probably say it for the first time publicly now.

“We didn’t realise that we were 24 hours away, our documents were ready, and we were ready to send the money and they were still going through a bidding process with another buyer.

“Sometimes you can achieve a lot with a handshake. Other times you need more than a handshake. And that was a situation where we lost because we were too confident in the outcome.

“So, I make mistakes, the Everton thing didn’t happen, there’s probably a reason for that. I think there are reasons for everything.

“And I think we’re going to end up with a better situation in the Premier League. And there’s a reason why that didn’t happen and something else will.”