Everton fans have been through an incredibly difficult few years but there is light of the end of the tunnel, with the timescale of a takeover by The Friedkin Group becoming clear.
The reign of current majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri has been chaos, with over £750million spent and eight different permanent managers in as many years.
Despite the investment Everton have gone from being a side challenging for Europe to becoming serial relegation contenders. Although, they are set to move into a state-of-the-art new stadium next season, which is a major positive.
The imminent takeover by TFG, who also own Italian giants Roma, comes as a relief to fans who have seen several potential bidders pull out of the race to purchase Everton in recent years.
Sources close to the Toffees have reiterated their belief that they believe the takeover will be completed ‘very soon’ and as previously reported, hope everything will be finalised before Christmas.
Back in July, Everton’s takeover talks with TFG were called off after the two sides failed to reach an agreement.
Just when months of work looked like it would come to nothing, the Houston-based consortium agreed to purchase Moshiri’s 94.1% stake in the club in September.
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Everton very optimistic ahead of takeover – sources
TEAMtalk understands that TFG will bring in their own personnel and there will be changes made at the top of Everton, who currently sit 15th in the Premier League, although there are no specifics as of yet.
The US-based group believe they can get Everton challenging for the European qualification places once again and sources say ‘some funds will be made available for reinforcements in January’ – but the major overhaul won’t come until next summer, when the Toffees will have eight first-team players out of contract, as things stand.
For now, Premier League survival is the priority for Everton’s prospective owners. They have no immediate plans to part ways with under-fire manager Sean Dyche, but are prepared to act should the club go through another period of dismal results.
The final part of the takeover process is said to be the most stringent and significant, with the Premier League currently assessing TFG’s financial suitability and a three-year business plan put forward by the group.
Premier League approval is thought to be ‘very close’ and it is simply a matter of time of waiting and seeing if they pass all these hurdles, which is ‘likely,’ per sources.
Those behind the scenes at Everton are extremely excited about what the future holds for the club as they plan for life under new ownership.
Although some final details still need to be confirmed regarding the takeover, there is a far different feeling around Finch Farm – a feeling that’s been missing for a long time.
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