Everton on verge of £800m takeover as Roma billionaire Dan Friedkin WINS battle to become new owner
FARHAD MOSIRI is poised to light the blue touchpaper on an £800million takeover by Roma owner Dan Friedkin.
An announcement allowing the billionaire American a period of exclusivity to complete due diligence could be announced within hours.
SunSport understands that Friedkin, worth £4.8billion, has beaten off a bid by Vici Private Finance in the battle to become the new Everton owner.
Friedkin is believed to have agreed to majority owner Moshiri’s demand for £200m up front to be given the rights to examine the club’s finances before moving ahead with the deal.
His entrance as the new head honcho of the Toffees may not, however, go down well with some supporters.
They are already upset that a member of his Friedkin Group described Everton as “the second club in Liverpool.”
While Friedkin himself said after buying Roma in 2020 that the Serie A club would “always be the jewel in his football crown.”
A straw poll of fan group Upper Gwladys Street Blues gave him only one per cent backing last weekend while Vici, funded by two American private companies and who showed £800M in cash to Moshiri, got 79 per cent.
Yet Everton are in desperate straits with debts of almost £600m plus Moshiri needs a further £200m to complete the construction of his club’s new Bramley – Moore Dock home.
What’s more, after losses of £133m over the last two years, they are already £2m beyond the Prem profit and sustainability limit of £105 going into the year of the regulation cycle.
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Premier League sides deducted points and others at risk
Nottingham Forest
Deducted four points during the 2023-24 season for breaching Premier League spending limit by £34.563m. Failed in their appeal with decision upheld.
Everton
Initial 10-point deduction for 2021-22 Premier League breaches reduced to six points on appeal. Were deducted a further two points later in the 2023-24 season. Appealed, but since withdrawn following Prem survival.
Sheffield United
Hit with a two-point deduction for their finances during the 2022-23 EFL season. Will begin the 2024-25 Championship season on -2 points following their relegation from the Prem.
OTHERS WHO COULD FACE PUNISHMENT…
Manchester City
Etihad club emphatically denies the 115 allegations laid against them in February 2023. The lengthy Commission case has been scheduled to start in October or November but a final decision is not expected until March or April 2025.
Chelsea
Blues chiefs flagged up illicit payments made to agents and others during the Roman Abramovich era. Fined £8.6m by Uefa but still to be formally charged by the Prem despite an ongoing investigation.
Leicester
Foxes breached Prem PSR loss limits last season but did not have to report their 2022-23 accounts until this month because of their relegation. That puts the timetable back and means that they will probably face a Prem points deduction for the 2024-25 season following their return to the top flight.
Everton (again)
The Toffees are again at risk of breaking PSR rules and are in a race against time to raise funds and balance the books. Not only could that lead to another charge but also administration. That would lead to an automatic nine-point deduction for the 2024/25 season.
More red figures are expected by the end of Everton’s trading year on June 30.
After surviving two points deductions last season they will face another in the new campaign unless they carve into those losses by selling players to balance the books by that date.
Those massive debts also mean that Everton continue to flirt with administration – which would bring an automatic nine-point deduction.
Manchester United have already had one “derisory” offer of £35M for Jarrad Branthwaite rejected.
The Old Trafford club tried to cash in on Everton’s financial crisis but the asking price for England prospect Branthwaite, 21, remains at £70m.
United are certain to go back with a bigger offer while Amadou Onana and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are targets of Arsenal and Newcastle respectively.
One or both could leave Goodison by June 30 with Abdoulaye Doucoure another star who may have to be sacrificed.
Friedkin’s entrance, although it would have to be ratified by the Prem, would be too late to see the fire sale that is expected and is likely to take several weeks at least to go through.
Yet his takeover would still mean blue skies for Blues fans who have seen their club escape from three successive relegation close–calls.
Moshiri, meanwhile, owns his 94.1 per cent stake in the club through Blue Heaven Holdings but he is facing a personal hell.
Apart from the near-£600m debt he has overseen since taking over in 2016 he has also provided Everton with £450m in shareholder loans – and he won’t get a penny of that fortune back when he finally leaves.