Everton Takeover – The Solution or a New Problem?
They might not have a lot of trophies in the cabinet, but Everton have a lot to be proud of. The Toffees, the ‘other’ Liverpool team, have the 2nd longest continuous presence in the top flight, having played 122 seasons, and were a huge success in the old 1st division, winning it a total of 9 times.
The Premier League era hasn’t brought the same level of success, but it hasn’t all been bad. Between 2002-2015 the club enjoyed a golden era of sorts, consistently finishing in the top eight and becoming known for playing Champions League-level football on a Championship budget. Unfortunately, finishing 5th under Roberto Martinez in 2015 turned out to be a high point.
The next 9 years would prove to be hellish. The club’s very Premier League status, even its existence would be threatened. Why? One man.
In February 2016, it was announced that British-Iranian billionaire Farhad Moshiri would be taking over as Everton owner. Moshiri, worth around $1.7bn, had just sold the minority stake he owned in Arsenal with Russian billionaire and close friend Alisher Usmanov and was determined to take Everton to the top.
All of a sudden, the club had what it always wanted, an owner willing to invest. It started well. Moshiri’s first managerial hire, former Southampton boss Ronald Koeman, was backed handsomely and finished a respectable 7th in his first season Then the rot started, unfortunately from the very top.
Moshiri might have had big plans and deep pockets, but he hasn’t got a lot right during his tenure. One of the biggest being his inability to hire a competent sporting director and its resulting impact on scouting and strategy. For a club like Everton, who constantly lose their best players, a coherent strategy is the difference between success & failure.
This is how the club stays competitive and how it keeps finding gems, without one it gets messy. Which is exactly what happened.
Soon after Moshiri’s takeover, the club went from buying low, developing players and selling high to paying huge sums for 2nd string players at top teams. Soon the likes of André Gomes, Yerry Mina and Davy Klaassen were being signed on massive contracts. It wasn’t long until Everton realised why their previous teams sold them. Predictable results followed…
Since 2016, Everton have spent £670m on players, the 9th-most in the Premier League. In that time, they’ve had 6 managers and regressed year on year, going from 7th in Koeman’s first season to missing out on relegation by a point in 2023. The appointment of Sean Dyche might have stabilised things for the time being, but even he’s struggling.
And if the troubles on the pitch weren’t bad enough, then there’s the stadium. In January 2019, Moshiri proudly announced two huge pieces of news to the club’s AGM:
- The club would leave Goodison Park to move to a new 53k capacity stadium on Liverpool’s Bramley Moore dock.
- The club didn’t need any outside investment, it could more than afford the project.
While it started well, it got really bad, fast. First, the Covid-19 pandemic. While everyone else was sat at home gaming or making banana bread, Everton’s commercial revenues were plummeting while the interest rates on their loans were spiraling. All of a sudden, the club couldn’t afford to finance the new stadium, Moshiri needed cash, quickly.
Enter his old friend Usmanov. Usmanov, a Russian steel magnate worth an estimated $14bn, loaned his friend around $200m between 2018 and 2022, he also agreed to give Moshiri around $200m up front in return for the naming rights to the new stadium. The stadium, and the club, was saved. Then, Russia invaded Ukraine.
Overnight, Usmanov’s assets were frozen and Moshiri was left up the creek. Determined to finish the project he started borrowing from anyone who’d lend him it and before he knew it the club was in £1bn of debt. Combine this with the club’s losses on player trading and Moshiri was in a fine mess. Such a mess that in 2023 he announced he’d be selling the club.
Unfortunately, due to the club’s financial situation, finding a buyer was tricky. That is, until Dan Friedkin came on the scene. Worth an estimated $6.1bn, Friedkin inherited the chairmanship of his family company, The Friedkin Group, at the age of 35. Started by his dad, the company has interests in several sectors and employs around 3,000 people.
While most people would be content to spend their days lounging on a yacht, Friedkin wasn’t one of them. He does a bit of everything from owning a film studio, to a chain of luxury hotels and even AS Roma in Serie A, purchasing the club for an initial $591m in 2020. Not content with owning one football club, it was announced on 23rd September that TFG would be purchasing Moshiri’s controlling stake in Everton.
Perfect! The Moshiri era’s over! But what can fans expect from the new guy? Well, if TFG’s tenure at Roma is anything to go by, Evertonians should be excited.
Despite being an Italian institution, I Giallorossi have never quite converted that into titles, winning only three Scudetti. That’s not because they haven’t tried. Successive owners have spent huge sums trying to get the club to the top of the pile, with the result being 14 second-place finishes and more recently, significant debts.
By the time TFG took over the club they were the 2nd most indebted club in Serie A. FFP concerns were starting to bite and the club were slipping down the table. So, the mission was simple, a rebuild. To the surprise of many, TFG decided it would from the ground up. To that end, they’ve spent over $1 billion on:
- Paying down debts
- Rebuilding the developing the clubs Trigoria training ground
- Building up the club’s academy and women’s teams
They’ve also changed the teams transfer policy, focussing on signing and developing the league’s best young talent with a sprinkling of experienced free agents. So, how has it impacted on field performance? It depends where you look.
Under TFG, Roma have spent €327m on players, the 6th-most in Serie A and have cycled through 3 managers. In that time, they haven’t finished higher than 6th. However, if you switch your focus to Europe, you’ll find that since 2021 Roma have won the Conference League, been to the Europa League final and semi finals.
At the same time:
- Post-tax losses have more than halved from their 2020/21 low
- The team has a solid core, capable of competing for a top four spot.
- They’re only a couple of additions away from challenging Juventus and the Milan clubs.
All they need to do is get the manager right. Ivan Jurić is highly thought of, but whether he’s the missing piece we’ll wait and see. So, while Roma fans quite rightly complain they should be challenging for the title, TFG have started a ground up rebuild, brought in a host of young stars and delivered a European trophy.
Not all bad, right? I suspect if you offered Everton fans successive mid table finishes and a bottom up rebuild of the club, they’ll be more than happy. Evertonians, it’s time to finally get excited.
By: Kieran Alder / @The_Own_Goal
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / James Gill – Danehouse / Getty Images