Everton Could Get New Owners Soon

Everton Football Club, are on the verge of new ownership. According to reports, a consortium of investors is set to acquire the club bringing about a fresh era of ownership and leadership.

The likely change in ownership raises questions about the club from future transfers to a potential change of manager, as seen in clubs that have experienced recent ownership changes.

Everton’s current owner, a British-Iranian billionaire, Farhad Moshiri, first became a shareholder in February 2016, when he purchased 49.9% of the club. Before buying stakes in Everton, Moshiri had previously been a shareholder in the pride of London- Arsenal FC.

In September 2018, Farhad Moshiri further increased his shareholding in the club by a further 18.7 per cent through Blue Heaven Holdings Limited. In June 2019, he bought an additional stake to increase his total shares to 77.2 per cent.

Mr Moshiri further affirmed his commitment to the Club with a £100m capital injection, acquiring a further 33,333 shares in the Club, taking his shareholding in Everton to 94.1 per cent. That acquisition represented the capitalization of previous loans made by M. Moshiri which, in turn, greatly strengthened the Club’s balance sheet.

In June 2023, Mr Moshiri was announced as a Non-Executive Director to the Board. According to Forbes, Farhad Moshiri was worth around 2.7 billion dollars and his purchase of stakes in Everton was about 200 million pounds as of 2016.

Everton’s poor transfer dealings

Under Moshiri’s reign, Everton have managed to remain in the Premier League. They have signed numerous players and it's fair to say they haven’t gotten the best of value in the transfer market.

Everton’s transfer business in recent years has been a hot topic for discussion as the club has struggled to compete with the bigger teams in the league. Although they’ve managed some good deals, they’ve spent big on some players which have turned out badly. Moshiri has overseen over 600 million in pounds of transfer fees and despite the availability of funds, the club has only seemed to battle relegation every season.

Their most expensive signing to date remains Gylfi Sigurdsson. The Icelandic international was signed from Swansea for a club-record fee of 44 million pounds in 2017. The next most expensive signing was Brazilian forward, Richarlison, who was signed from Watford football club for about 36 million pounds in 2018. Richarlison went on to become a fan-favorite during his time at Merseyside, going on to score vital goals during the club’s battle for relegation in the 2021/2022 season.

He was moved on for a big profit when Tottenham Hotspurs came calling. Although Sigurdsson and Richarlison were successful signings under Moshiri, some of the worst-ever club signings made in his time as club owner include Sandro Ramirez, Cenk Tosun, Davy Klaassen, Moise Kean, Theo Walcott, Fabian Delph, and a host of other players.

They were either moved on for free or at lesser amounts than they were bought for with little productivity in their time at the club. Moshiri has had to navigate through some challenges as owner of Everton Football Club. A constant during his time is the relegation battle which has become a norm in the day-to-day activity of the club. Also, his transfer spending has been erratic and largely wasteful leading to a large and bloated squad and poor returns on signings.

Most recently, they were penalized by the Premier League for violating the newly formed Profit and Sustainability Rules(PSR). The PSR was formed to maintain the financial health and competitiveness of premier league clubs, ensuring a sustainable future for the league.

It ensures that clubs operate sustainably and responsibly. In the 2021/2022 season, Everton was hit with a 10-point deduction for violating the PSR by 19.5 million pounds. They were found guilty of spending more on players than the required sales, and they were also fined about 21 million pounds due to a lower-than-projected finish in the premier league.

Struggles at Merseyside and the potential sale

Everton’s struggles under Moshiri are set to come to an end with the club put up for sale. The club has been put up for sale by Moshiri, who is looking for offers of more than 500 million pounds for the Premier League club. In recent months Moshiri has sought outside investment but he has finally put Everton on the market and would consider a minority or majority sale. This would not in any way stop the purchase of Everton tickets, with fans remaining positive that a takeover could be just what the club needs.

The agreement to sell the club to Miami-based firm, 777 partners was officially ended on the 31st of May 2024. The Premier League rejected 777 partners’ takeover bid as they were faced with several lawsuits and allegations of fraud.

They also failed to provide proof of funds and failed to meet the Premier League’s required condition of ownership. Some new inventors have shown interest in the total takeover of the club since the falling through of the 777 partners' bid.

Recently, Italian club, AS Roma American owner, Dan Friedkin has shown interest in Everton’s takeover. Friedkin, who acquired the Serie A giants in 2020 and has an estimated worth of about 4.8 billion pounds, emerged as a front-runner recently.

He is followed by a group of international investors led by London-based businessman Vatche Manoukian in showing interest in the club’s takeover. Manoukian is a partner in a global technology investment firm and his bid group includes investors from the United States. Other interested buyers are the A-Cap investment company and two local businessmen- Andy Bell and George Downing.

The takeover of the Merseyside club is deemed important as Everton will seek to return to the forefront of English and European football as they were once known. Additional funding will help with the total pay-off of the club’s debt and the remaining funding for the stadium. It is also deemed to provide a reinvestment strategy in the playing squads with references to recent takeovers of London-based Chelsea Football Club and Tyneside’s Newcastle United.

After recent years of struggles and setbacks under the current administration of Moshiri, Everton Football Club is set for a transformational change with the potential change of ownership. The incoming owners promise a fresh start with the much-needed investment and ambition, especially with the building of a new stadium. It remains to be seen which of the consortiums will emerge as the winner of the tussle for the ownership of the club.