Everton have been here before — a year to the week, coincidentally enough — but the Club could be in the hands of new owners by Christmas, perhaps sooner if all goes well in terms of the Premier League’s Owners and Directors Test and vetting by the Football Association and the Financial Conduct Authority.
12 months on from the announcement of a deal between Farhad Moshiri’s Blue Heaven Holdings and 777 Partners, news broke today that The Friedkin Group (TFG) have agreed a deal with the Anglo-Iranian for his 94.1% stake in Everton, signalling, perhaps, the end of a tumultuous eight-year reign that has witnessed the dizzying contrast between a gleaming new stadium rising out of the north docks on Liverpool’s iconic waterfront on the one hand and near-catastrophe on the pitch on the other.
TFG returned to the negotiating table earlier this month having abandoned a takeover attempt in July citing concerns over the Club’s complicated debt structure and, specifically, the £200m loaned to Everton by 777 (via their chief backer, A-Cap) which had become one of the focuses of a civil case brought against both entities by London-based Leadenhall Capital Partners in a New York district court.
The volte-face by Dan Friedkin, TFG’s billionaire owner and CEO, first reported by Bloomberg last week, was not wholly unexpected — the 59-year-old had done a similar thing during his ultimately successful bid to buy AS Roma four years ago, stepping away from talks, only to later return to the table to complete a $700m deal.
TFG’s ownership of the Serie A club, together with French club AS Cannes whom they acquired in June last year, should smooth the group through the regulatory approval process and with their due diligence already completed over the summer, it could see them complete their acquisition of Everton some time between mid-November to mid-December.
Dan’s son, Ryan, who is vice-president at Roma, is expected to take operational control at Everton if the takeover goes through while his father splits his time between the Italian capital and Liverpool; emblematic, perhaps, of how two big clubs of their respective leagues might vie for attention if TFG can bring success back to the Blue half of Merseyside.
In terms of personal image, Dan Friedkin could not be further removed from Moshiri, a chartered account by trade who is fairly quietly spoken and has been less-than inspiring as owner of Everton, the wonderful new ground at Bramley-Moore Dock notwithstanding.
San Diego-born Friedkin, meanwhile, is a qualified pilot who famously flew the authentic Spitfire in an aerial dogfight before landing it on the beach in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk.
He became CEO of Gulf States Toyota, the largest distributor of the Japanese cars in North America, at the age of 35 when his father, the company’s founder, stepped aside and he has since expanded his interests to golf courses and luxury resorts, movie production, and wildlife and nature conservation, particularly in East Africa.
That seemingly colourful persona has not extended to an outlandish public presence during his ownership of Roma, however, and he is unlikely to be a larger-than-life owner of Everton either.
In contrast to John Textor, who has been vocal in recent weeks about both his desire to own Everton and what his plans might be had he succeeded in first jettisoning his Eagle Football Group’s shares in Crystal Palace and then agreeing a deal with Moshiri, Friedkin has said nothing publicly about his attempted takeover of the Blues, apart from the statements issued by the Club around exclusivity, in the first instance in June, and the ending of talks between the two parties in July in the second, and now the confirmation of an agreement.
A TFG spokesman said via evertonfc.com:
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement to become custodians of this iconic football club. We look forward to providing stability to the club, and sharing our vision for its future, including the completion of the new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.“
To Roma’s fans, the Friedkins offered a note of reassurance:
“We remain active investors in the sports industry. We love the beautiful game. The potential addition of Everton to our portfolio does not alter our focus on AS Roma. If anything, the multi-club symbiosis will only help Roma. Each club in our portfolio operates independently and AS Roma remains at the heart of our football ambitions. Rest assured, our commitment of time, resources, and energy to Roma will not be diminished. Our goal is clear – to see AS Roma consistently compete at the highest levels of European football.”
That low-key approach appears very much to be the Friedkin modus operandi. Back in June, John Solano from AS Roma Press told The Toffee Blues podcast that TFG don’t talk very much.
“I still couldn’t tell you much [about them] beyond the surface level,” Solano said. “If you want a guy out in front of the camera, who likes to be heard, you’re not going to like the Friedkin Group.
“If you prefer a group that may not be so accessible and you don’t have to worry about them leaking many things to the newspapers and, on top of that, backs that up with very deep financial resources, then you’re going to be thrilled.”
Indeed, with Dan Friedkin boasting a reported personal net worth of around $6bn and the Group itself with revenues almost double that, TFG have the financial muscle and stability that Everton will need as the Club tries to rebuild following Moshiri’s near-catastrophic ownership.
They will benefit from the soon-to-be-completed Everton Stadium, a big chunk of which was paid for by the £158m MSP Sports loan TFG covered in June and an additional £42m they chipped in on top, but have the deep pockets to which Solano alluded to alleviate the Club’s other crippling debts and then provide operational capital and funds for transfers in the coming months.
Not all Roma fans have been happy with the Friedkins’ ownership of the Giallorossi, though. Just this weekend, fans staged protests at the ownership for what they deemed the premature sacking of Daniele De Rossi just five games into the 2024-25 season and less than nine months after he had been appointed, and CEO Lina Souloukou resigned just hours before Roma’s win over Udinese on Sunday.
Earlier this year, Roma fan Alessandro Marinella described Dan and Ryan Friedkin as “sharks … who have been killing Roma for four years,” and accused them of allowing the club’s best players, like Romelu Lukaku and Paolo Dybala to leave.
“Dan and Ryan Friedkin are two sleazy speculators who took Roma for two cents. They exploited the debt that the old management had, since without debt they would have had to pay it out of their own pockets. They only paid out of their own pocket the part given to James Pallotta (i.e. €190m that the old owner had put in from his pocket); the [remaining], €400m they financed euros through debt with JP Morgan.
“They didn’t pay the debts, but they shouldered them. It’s very different. [They paid] the debt with Roma’s own money — or rather with the money that Roma produces: transfers, capital gains, earnings, UEFA prize money, stadium, box office, gate receipts, sponsors, TV rights, merchandising, etc.”
Marinella feared that his team was destined for a battle to avoid relegation to Serie B this season and TFG’s under-the-radar approach has been cited as a problem by some pundits in Italy who criticised them for a lack of communication and hands-on direction.
ESPN contributor, Gabriele Marcotti, tweeted that TFG will invest their own money — a lot — but in addition to making “some really poor choices, [communication] is awful and there is a constant turnover in personnel at the club.”
That echoes former West Ham favourite, Paolo di Canio who recently said: “They need a link between the owners and the team, somebody who understands why things work well and why they don’t.
“What’s impressive is that they’re spending a lot of money — nearly 1 billion over these years — [but] the Americans are like this. They manage a business, staying in the office without the crowd outside. It’s a different world, and they are proving to be struggling.
“They thought they had solved everything with Mourinho; they won a cup and became heroes. They picked up Lukaku with a private jet. Those are great things, but then there is daily work. When things don’t go well, you need directors.”
TFG have had relative success in their attempts to restore a previously struggling Italian giant to their former glory, though. Over the past year or so, Roma recorded a €117m increase to the bottom line over the previous year.
Under Mourinho, with whom they replaced Paolo Fonseca, they became the first winners of the Europa Conference League and last season they qualified again for the Europa League after finishing sixth in Serie A.
Luca d’Allessandro, deputy director of the AS Roma website Voice of the Red and Yellow is more complimentary than Marinella.
“Dan and Ryan are well viewed by the supporters, especially after the Uefa Conference League win,” he says. “They renovated the training ground, invested in the AS Roma Women’s stadium, brought in new sponsorships and started a new stadium project. Overall, they have improved the financial situation of the club.”
However, as Chiesa Di Totti of the AS Roma blog on SB Nation explained to sister site Royal Blue Mersey in June, the Lupi’s lack of involvement in the Champions League and the associated revenue has prevented the Friedkins from taking the club to the next level.
“The problem has been, quite simply, they haven’t been able to follow up [the Conference League triumph], piling up little more than a string of sixth-place finishes the past few years. They’ve spent next to nothing on actual transfers, relying on loans and free-agent signings, highlighted by Paulo Dybala, who has been excellent for Roma. But the inability to spend money on the transfer market has hampered Roma’s ambitions.
“I’m sure they have an overall strategic vision for the club, but without that added revenue, it’s been impossible to implement. Despite that, TFG has brought a much-needed sense of calm to the club. Roma fans are an emotional lot, so it’s nice to have an even keel in the owner’s box.”
Where Farhad Moshiri has struggled since the tap from USM was turned off following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to justify his early promise that money would never be an object under his stewardship, The Friedkin Group should, at the very least, offer stable financial backing and direction as Everton try to find their feet again after three hectic and emotionally-draining years.
The Blues have essentially been treading water for the past year, as the farce of 777 Partners’ bid played out and Moshiri has desperately courted a host of potential suitors, trying to find a way out of a quagmire of his own making.
While the terms of the deal are not yet known, TFG’s initial £200m loan, secured against Everton Stadium, will almost certainly be converted to equity and their immediate priority will be either the restructuring or repayment of a further £425m of debt owed to 777/A-CAP and Rights & Media Funding. That’s before any further funds for day-to-day operations and transfer expenditure are taken into account.
The Athletic report that fresh capital has already been made available for the stadium fit-out and they speculate that TFG “is going to pay off a good chunk of [the] £200m [nominally owed to 777/A-CAP] now, with the rest being converted to payment-in-kind notes,” a deal that should be acceptable to Leadenhall.
Meanwhile, the boardroom urgently needs strong strategic thinking and direction; filling those positions with qualified, energetic people must be high on the Friedkins’ agenda.
On the footballing side, an assessment will need to be made on the performance of director of football, Kevin Thelwell, and manager Sean Dyche, both of whom are out of contract next summer. Judging by Friedkin’s itchy trigger finger where De Rossi was concerned at Roma, Dyche in particular will need to produce results in the coming weeks if he is to be considered for retention by the new owners.
For Everton supporters, though, a successful takeover by TFG will finally offer clarity over the ownership situation and an end to the Moshiri years, even if the future is unknown. Where the Toffees will sit in a multi-club model or, at least, in the Friedkins’ divided attention remains to be seen but the Americans will know that they are acquiring a sleeping giant, a rich local cultural asset and the focus of a devoted, passionate and very large latent fanbase that is desperate for any tangible signs of progress.
Thanks to Moshiri’s mis-steps, it’s a very low bar in the short term but the road ahead is still a very long one. Patience, as ever, will be needed but the potential is massive. Evertonians everywhere will be praying the ownership can realise it.
Stay tuned for news of an updated edition of The Unofficial Everton Timeline — The Moshiri Years, to be released soon along with an audiobook version