The Friedkin Group completed their takeover of Everton in December 2024.
The American investors bought a 99.5% stake in Everton, which cost them in excess of £400m, thus ending Farhad Moshiri’s tenure on Merseyside.
The Friedkins also own Serie A giants AS Roma and French fourth division side AS Cannes, so evidently they’re firm believers of the ever-growing multi-club ownership model.
But, there are some concerns beginning to emerge around that after Crystal Palace’s ordeal over the last month, or so.
Palace are at risk of being thrown out of the Europa League due to John Textor holding a stake in both the Eagles and Lyon, who qualified for the same competition.
UEFA are arguing that Textor has a conflict of interest, and indeed, that would certainly be the case if Everton and Roma both qualified for the same European competition.
So, with that said, we’ve spoken exclusively to finance expert Adam Williams to get an insight into how the Friedkins could deal with such an issue, should it arise.
Everton and Roma owner Dan Friedkin.
Photo by Fabrizio Corradetti/LiveMedia/NurPhoto via Getty Images
How the Friedkins could deal with multi-club ownership issues that arise with Everton and Roma
Williams, speaking to Everton News, reckons the Friedkins believe their multi-ownership won’t cause a ‘significant problem’.
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“This is the million-dollar question, how UEFA plans to deal with multi-club ownership going forward,” the finance expert explained.
“I speak to lots of people involved in football finance and I hear completely different views across the spectrum – some people think UEFA are going to crack down on it, others think they will go in completely the opposite direction.
“With Everton and Roma, this absolutely will have come up in Dan Friedkin’s due diligence ahead of the takeover. He and his researchers will have spoken to enough people to decide that it isn’t going to cause a significant problem.
“But that sounds like a bit of a Hail Mary to me. There is only so far you can go with the blind trust arrangement that we have seen Man City and others use in recent seasons. It’s not a permanent solution, especially if you have got two clubs in the same portfolio that you want to both be competing at the elite European level most seasons. Basically, you’re putting a ceiling on your ambitions.
“I’m inclined to think that the genie is out of the bottle here. If you look at the Premier League, 16 teams are now part of a multi-club structure of some sort. With the money and power involved in football these days, it’s going to be nigh on impossible to get those clubs – who are backed by private equity, sovereign wealth etc – to abandon their ownership model.
“The other thing is with UEFA’s rules on this is that there is a fair bit of room in the wording of the rules to catch a lot of different relationships and see them as a conflict of interest. It doesn’t just necessarily just have to be a shared ownership stake; it can be a link in the boardroom or some other way that someone in the Friedkin Group or another ownership regime has decisive influence at one or more club.”
Everton will be aiming for Europe next season
Whilst it seems a long way off to be talking about Everton qualifying for Europe, that isn’t the mindset of David Moyes.
In fact, Moyes publicly announced his desire to return Everton to Europe when collecting his OBE award at Windsor Castle last month.
“We had an incredible time at West Ham and winning a European trophy,” Moyes explained. ”But now back at Everton, I’ve got to try and set the same sort of sights for Everton as well.
“In the early parts of my career when I was Everton manager, we did get to Europe quite regularly and it has to be, I feel as if it has to be a target for us.”
The Friedkins are ready to hand Moyes a substantial budget to realise those aspirations, too, so evidently there are exciting times ahead on Merseyside.