Connor O'Neill reacts after it was confirmed that The Friedkin Group is open to a full sale of Everton as it seeks external investment in the club
Andy Gray and Neville Southall following Everton's final Premier League game at Goodison Park against Southampton
Andy Gray and Neville Southall following Everton's final Premier League game at Goodison Park against Southampton(Image: (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images))
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When one Everton supporter took to X on Friday morning and wrote: “Christ, one normal day of Everton. Will never happen," some rival supporters could have been forgiven for looking at such a statement and asking what the fan in question had to moan about. After all, the Blues, now in the second season of their new waterfront home, return to action against Hull City on Sunday afternoon, unbeaten in the Premier League and with a fourth-round League Cup tie against Newcastle United to come.
But Everton’s search for stability off the pitch took another blow on Friday morning when it was confirmed that The Friedkin Group (TFG) is open to a full sale of the club. A cloud of uncertainty now hangs over the Blues, but supporters have, of course, been here before.
No more so than two years ago, when TFG initially walked away from purchasing the club from Farhad Moshiri. Back then, Moshiri’s search for an escape route was in its third summer and followed the collapse of a deal that would have seen 777 Partners gain control of the club.
What Friedkin Group sale statement says about their time at Everton - and what's needed next
The US consortium was the third party to reach an exclusivity agreement with the businessman, but all three deals fell through.
The struggle to reach a resolution left the club - and those charged with stewarding it - on unstable ground as it attempted to navigate the challenges of Premier League survival, spending regulations and the path towards the move into its new home.
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The picture is now very different, as TFG have undoubtedly transformed Everton’s balance sheet, stabilised the club and oversaw the move from Goodison Park to Hill Dickinson Stadium.
However, the initial signs of transformation have long seemed to stall as TFG have become the epitome of an absentee owner.
When Blues boss David Moyes exposed an astonishing disconnect last month - confirming he has had no contact with Dan Friedkin, founder and chief executive of TFG, since replacing Sean Dyche as manager in January 2025 - it confirmed what many supporters already suspected.
But the truth is that the Blues boss had just raised the biggest red flag of them all. How can the manager of Everton Football Club never have had a conversation, let alone a meeting, with the highest-ranked person in the club's ownership group?
David Moyes
Everton manager David Moyes comments raised a huge red flag(Image: (Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images))
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TFG’s ambition for Everton had long been under scrutiny from fans, but that scrutiny became anger in the final days of the transfer window when they agreed to sell Harrison Armstrong to Nottingham Forest.
A revolt from supporters, before, during and after the draw with Bournemouth, prevented the deal from happening, but the relationship between fans and owners was over from that day.
And that was before a shambolic transfer deadline day, in which Moyes, who continues to work wonders, was left with just 18 outfield players.
Never has a truer word been spoken than when the Scot recently said that any successful club 'needs to be aligned' at the top.
Once any sale is agreed and the club then eventually changes hands, TFG will ultimately be remembered as just another Everton owner unable or unwilling to realise the club’s potential and give supporters reason to believe.
Dan Friedkin owns Everton and Roma
Dan Friedkin owns Everton and Roma(Massimo Insabato/Archivio Massimo Insabato/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)
And what happens in the coming days and weeks remains to be seen, but whoever takes control of Everton next should read and take in what Blues great Neville Southall said back in 2023 just hours after TFG agreed to buy his old club.
"It's the best club in the world, we just need people to come in who match that ambition and improve the team,” he told the ECHO.
“Since we made that decision that finishing 10th was ok, the club has gone downhill from there. The ambition went and it has never come back.
"We need to make sure that the ambition comes back and we actually live up to our mantra.
"Once the ambition went, this is where we are now. Whoever takes over must have the ambition to deliver and make us the best club in the world - and if it's not, then it's the wrong person to come in."
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