The Friedkin Group announced on September 23 that they had an agreement to purchase Farhad Moshiri's entire stake in Everton
Dan Friedkin, left, and son Ryan Friedkin, of The Friedkin Group
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It was a brief, 178-word message that confirmed what many Evertonians already knew – the attentions of The Friedkin Group lie beyond the Blues. Less than 22 months after they completed a takeover of Everton, obtaining Farhad Moshiri’s entire 99.5% controlling stake, the Texas-based company has put the club up for sale.
Let’s take a look at what the statement actually says...
“The Friedkin Group is exploring new investment options for Everton Football Club, including the potential sale of a controlling interest.”
READ MORE: Friedkin Group's transfer 'gamble', Everton intentions and what they could learn from rival owners
This was a possibility mooted as early as September 3, when an article in the Financial Times stated TFG were seeking new investors, working with advisers on the Everton stake sale process, following a summer transfer window in which Premier League rivals drove spending to new records in an arms race for talent. However, at the time, even the most senior staff at Hill Dickinson Stadium claimed they didn’t even know whether the club was for sale.
“When TFG became custodians of Everton, the club faced significant financial uncertainty and challenges both on and off the pitch. The immediate priority was to provide the stability, investment and support needed to secure the club’s future, including helping to bring the long-promised stadium to completion for its deserving supporters.”
For all the criticisms that have come the way of TFG, this cannot be disputed. After being ceremonially handed the keys to Everton’s new stadium by contractors Laing O’Rourke on December 19, 2024, straight after their takeover, the new owners not only oversaw the internal fitting out process of the Blues’ 52,7590capacity home on the Mersey waterfront while also sorting out the monies the club owed to various groups, putting them into lower interest schemes and paying the bills with cash injections like when Everton were ordered to pay Burnley £35million in June for a historic PSR breach.
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“With that foundation now safely in place, the time is right to consider the next chapter for Everton. We will only entertain interest from parties who we strongly believe will be the right stewards to take the club forward and build on the momentum that has been established.”
That second line is key here – "We will only entertain interest from parties who we strongly believe will be the right stewards to take the club forward" – it is to be hoped that TFG hold potential buyers to much higher scrutiny that their predecessor Moshiri, who was the billionaire accountant in charge when the Blues were hit by a brace of points deductions for breaking financial rules, did.
Infamously, on September 15, 2023, when signing an agreement with the now collapsed 777, Moshiri, who also had dalliances with John Textor, who seems to go from one crisis to another, boldly told Evertonians: “I have spoken to a number of parties and considered some strong potential opportunities. However, it is through my lengthy discussions with 777 that I believe they are the best partners to take our great club forward.”
Dan Friedkin owns Everton and Roma
Dan Friedkin owns Everton and Roma(Massimo Insabato/Archivio Massimo Insabato/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)
No, I want them to stayNo, they should sell but now is not the right time
So, to the final paragraph...
“Throughout this process, TFG’s focus will remain unchanged. We will support the club in all ways necessary to achieve success on the pitch and will continue efforts to make a positive difference in the communities the club serves.”
This is where TFG, understandably, have received the most flak. Their focus seems to be elsewhere, whether that’s Roma, the other major European football club that they own, where they have just been given the green light to build a new stadium for over a billion pounds or even with their agreement with the NHL (the elite division of ice hockey in North America) with whom they have an agreement to explore launching an expansion team in Texas, a project which could cost some three-and-a-half billion dollars.
On the eve of the current season, Everton chief executive Angus Kinnear, who is considered a mouthpiece of TFG, predicted: “This window again, I think we will spend more than most of our competitors, the owners are very keen to back us.”
However, after the window closed the Blues were down in 15th place among Premier League clubs when it came to net spend. Indeed, they were one of just half a dozen teams to make a trading profit.
Despite pocketing over £100million on deadline day with their most creative talent Iliman Ndiaye, last season’s top scorer Beto, Tim Iroegbunam and Nathan Patterson all sold, plus Adam Aznou loaned out, following the late collapse of the purchase of USA World Cup star Folarin Balogun from Monaco, Everton were left with a first-team squad of 18 outfield players that contains just one striker, one left-back and one right-back.
And all this came just 48 hours after Dan Friedkin himself is understood to have personally intervened to make a dramatic U-turn on a decision to cash in on home-grown hero Harrison Armstrong, the only Scouser in the squad, after travelling Blues supporters threatened to riot if the teenager was sold to Nottingham Forest for £40million.
One of the biggest bugbears though when it came to Evertonians feeling the 'second child syndrome’ surrounded the fact that although the owners have a representative at all home matches (principally Dan Friedkin’s son-in-law Rishi Majithia), the club chairman and CEO of The Friedkin Group has never watched them play. In contrast, at Roma, the other major European football club he owns, the Texan tycoon has been pictured in the stands alongside son Ryan with the pair even riding around the streets of the Italian capital in 2022 in an open top bus after the team won the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Dan Friedkin celebrates with the Europa Conference League Trophy after Roma overcame Feyenoord in 2022. He is yet to attend an Everton game. Photo by Silvia Lore/Getty Images
Dan Friedkin celebrates with the Europa Conference League Trophy after Roma overcame Feyenoord in 2022. He is yet to attend an Everton game. Photo by Silvia Lore/Getty Images
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An accomplished pilot, Friedkin senior also personally flew former Everton striker Romelu Lukaku and coach Jose Mourinho into Rome when they each joined the club. Since then, he has been photographed greeting coaches plus players on various visits to Centro Sportivo Fulvio Bernardini, Roma’s training ground, yet still Gian Piero Gasperini, one of those he was pictured with, urged him to adopt a more hands on approach with them this week.
The Blues might struggle to find another buyer whose pockets are as deep as the 61-year-old given he is currently placed at number 293 with an estimated fortune of $12.1billion (approximately £9.14billion) by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world’s wealthiest people. However, it’s no good having all that money if you’re not willing to invest it in the team.
Manager David Moyes, who was brought back to the club less than a month after TFG took charge, revealed last month he has never even spoken to Dan Friedkin.
With Hill Dickinson Stadium enabling Everton to play in front of the biggest average crowds in their entire history and financial experts estimating the venue will bring in an additional £60million a year in revenue, everything is set up for an exciting new chapter if they can just find an owner with a clear vision who can give this special club some TLC.
Only time will tell who that might be...
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