Friday evening’s breaking news claims that US billionaire Dan Friedkin has reached an agreement to take control of Everton.
The American – worth an estimated five billion dollars – is now in grid position ahead of other potential bidders for Everton, according to the BBC.
Friedkin, who’s also the owner of AS Roma in Italy’s Serie A, is now apparently closer to securing control of his first Premier League club, and is said to be about to enter into an exclusivity agreement with Farhad Moshiri.
This would be the fourth such agreement that Moshiri – whose track record in this respect is not at all great, something clearly evidenced again with the saga over 777 Partners bid that finally failed at the end of May – has entered since he first tried to dispose of the Toffees.
The situation with the 777 Partners group had become untenable as the Miami-based investment group – who had agreed to buy the Blues from Moshiri in September – had encountered various financial issues, leading to questions arising regarding their ability to complete a takeover. And all this happening at a time that had been the most challenging, chaotic and controversial season that any Premier League club has gone through.
So, understandably, while there may be hope with this news that things could be moving in a positive direction as far as resolving the club’s ownership is concerned, many finger will be crossed in the meantime as talks are ongoing.
Friedkin is a Texas-based businessman who has a background in the automotive trade specifically selling Toyota vehicles to the US market. He has also got a foot in the movie entertainment industry as well.
The great news is that he at least he has experience running a historically big club with a huge fan-base, especially one aspiring to return to past glories, however tenuous that may seem in Everton’s case at the moment.