John Textor said he was 24 hours away from buying Everton but now his French club Olympique Lyonnais have been relegated over their finances after he agreed a deal to offload his shares in Crystal Palace
John Textor was in talks with Farhad Moshiri over a prospective takeover of Everton
John Textor was in talks with Farhad Moshiri over a prospective takeover of Everton
John Textor claimed he was 24 hours away from buying Everton last year before Dan Friedkin came back in to trump him. But now his French club Olympique Lyonnais have been forcibly relegated to Ligue 2 because of the poor state of their finances.
The bombshell news leaves Blues pondering whether this was another lucky escape after Farhad Moshiri had previously tried to sell his controlling stake to the now collapsed Miami-based private investment firm, 777 Partners.
Lyon were provisionally demoted by the DNGC, the body which oversees the accounts of French professional football clubs, in November. Club officials, including owner Textor, met with the DNGC on Tuesday but failed to convince the body that the club had sufficiently improved their financial situation to lift the punishment.
Last October, his Eagle Football Group, which owns a 77% stake in Lyon, announced debts of £422m. In a statement, Lyon said the DNGC’s decision was “incomprehensible” and confirmed they would appeal. Lyon's relegation could prove significant to Crystal Palace's hopes of playing in the Europa League next season. Their participation is currently in doubt because of UEFA rules, which prevent multiple teams under one multi-club ownership structure competing in the same European competition.
It is a potential issue Everton could face if they qualify for Europe in the future given that The Friedkin Group also own Roma.
Textor owns stakes in both Palace and Lyon although he agreed a deal to sell his 43% share in the south London outfit on Monday to Woody Johnson, who owns NFL team New York Jets.
Everton snapped up two players from Lyon last summer with Jake O’Brien joining for £16.43million in July and Orel Mangala arriving on a season-long loan on transfer deadline day (August 31) with agent Giovanni Bia claiming the Belgium international had already agreed to go to Fiorentina before Textor himself intervened and decided to send the midfielder to Goodison Park.
The seven-time French champions raised around £45m with the sales of Maxence Caqueret to Como in January and Rayan Cherki to Manchester City in June in an attempt to improve their finances but high earners such as Alexandre Lacazette and Anthony Lopes have also been released.
However, when the provisional punishment was handed down in November, Textor said that there was “no chance” the club would be relegated and reiterated his confidence before Tuesday’s meeting.
Lyon claim to be baffled by the decision and a club statement reads: “With proven funds and sporting success that has earned us a place in European competition for two consecutive years, we sincerely do not understand how an administrative decision could relegate such a major French club. We will appeal to demonstrate our ability to provide the necessary financial resources to guarantee OL’s place in Ligue 1.”
Until the Friedkins came back in, Textor, who outlined his intentions in a 1,169 word statement, was in the box seat to acquire Everton after The Athletic's David Ornstein reported on August 15 that the American had become the fifth interested party in two years to enter into a period of exclusivity with Moshiri over acquiring his 94.1% stake.
During that time, Textor who 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.”
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However, the Missouri-born mogul, nicknamed ‘Hollywood’s Virtual Reality guru,’ also received a rap on the knuckles from the then top brass at Goodison Park for speaking publicly about what then manager Sean Dyche’s appetite for working with South American players might be like.
But he continued to be candid about his intentions and in November spoke 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.”