John Textor was hoping to sell his shares in Crystal Palace to complete an Everton takeover before The Friedkin Group.
John Textor has revealed why he was gazumped by The Friedkin Group (TFG) to complete an Everton takeover.
TFG’s decision to walk away led to Textor’s Eagle Football Holdings trying to purchase Everton. Textor owned 45 per cent of Premier League rivals Crystal Palace but had only one of four votes on the board, so he wanted full control of another English club.
Textor, who has now sold his shares in Crystal Palace, appeared as a guest on talkSPORT. The main reason for his appearance was to discuss Palace looking likely to miss out on a place in the Europa League because of his involvement in Olympique Lyonnais and UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules.
Textor explains failed Everton takeover
But Textor was also asked whether he was serious about buying Everton - and confessed that TFG’s 11th-hour decision put paid to his takeover attempt. The American said: “That was the dumbest interview you could possibly give if you didn’t absolutely know you were going to be the owner of the club. So I absolutely knew I was going to be the owner of the club. What turns out is they were running two legal teams with a Chinese wall between them, and two guys at the finishing line with neither of us knowing.
“I'd spoken to The Friedkin Group in advance because I knew they had money in the stadium. I called and said: 'I'm not going to go for this if you're still interested because it's your deal'. They put the money up for the stadium; they had to be dealt with. It was a Friday, we were waiting on wiring instructions, everything was completely done then I get a call over the weekend from one of the owners [and said] ‘we’ve decided to go in another direction’. I couldn’t believe it. You literally asked me to roll out and lay out a strategy. Why am I talking about coaching decisions at Everton if I wasn’t already the owner?
“We were waiting on wiring instructions but full documents [were] done, everything done, closed. Then we get the call, it was a shock. Why would you want to buy Everton? I wanted to buy Crystal Palace, love Crystal Palace, wanted to stay at Crystal Palace but Everton were out there and available. It was a great opportunity. Friedkin's guy calls me and says: ‘You know, John, it was like eight days ago that we changed our mind’. It was like ‘really’.”
Dan Friedkin verdict
However, Textor insists that he holds no grudges - and plans to have a beer with TFG chairman Dan Friedkin after the pair recently became neighbours. Textor added: “I'm looking forward to meeting Dan because he just bought a house about six doors down from mine. Apparently, we're going to be neighbours so we can have a beer over it. I've heard he's s super-good guy, if there was a Chinese wall between us, they weren't aware of what we were doing. It was their club to buy, they put the money up, no problem.”
Continue Reading