It has finally happened.
Everton Football Club is set to land a new major shareholder, with a 49.9% stake in the club set to fall in new hands pending Premier League approval.
UK businessman Farhad Moshiri is set to stump up the $200 million that was said to be required to purchase the stake having sold his share in Arsenal to Russian business partner Alisher Usmanov, who also happens to be that country’s richest man.
The frontrunning consortium for a major share initially looked to be that of American entrepreneurs John Jay Charles and John Moores, but news of Moshiri’s intention to invest has since progressed quickly.
Of Iranian heritage and residing in Monaco, Forbes estimates Moshiri’s net worth to be approximately US$1.79 billion, with that wealth stemming from various sources including numerous investments and accountancy.
His riches promise to deliver added financial freedom, a luxury the club has never really enjoyed yet is something Evertonians have cried out for for so long.
Everton chairman Bill Kenwright described Moshiri as the “perfect” candidate to move Everton forward after an exhaustive and extensive search for new investment.
“After an exhaustive search, I believe we have found the perfect partner to take the club forward,” Kenwright told evertonfc.com.
“I have got to know Farhad well over the last 18 months and his football knowledge, financial wherewithal and True Blue spirit have convinced me that he is the right man to support Everton.”
Sixty-one-year-old Moshiri himself offered a brief statement, saying he has begun the process of learning what it means to be an Evertonian.
“I am delighted to take this opportunity to become a shareholder in Everton, with its rich heritage as one of Europe’s leading football clubs,” he said.
“There has never been a more level playing field in the Premier League than now.
“Bill Kenwright has taught me what it means to be an Evertonian and I look forward with excitement to working with him to help deliver success for Everton in the future.”
While it is too early to say Moshiri is the club’s saviour, he will have a big part to play in its future. So how exactly must the money talk?
The Merseyside club is currently stuck in a position of indifference, looking to break into Europe’s elite. Indeed, that has been the case for some time, with numerous cases of ‘so close, yet so far’. The entire jigsaw has never really been fully completed, however, and a move into a new stadium is one that has been in the pipeline for what feels like forever.
As grand and dear as 124-year-old Goodison Park is, the time to move on is fast approaching if it has not already arrived. England’s elite and is aspirants are all making the move to new stadiums, or upgrading their current ones.
West Ham will move to the Olympic Stadium at season’s end, leaving Upton Park behind, while London counterparts Tottenham Hotspur are in the process of developing a new 61,000 seater, due to open in 2018.
For Everton, the time has finally come to build a new state of the art stadium after numerous proposals have failed.
This season in particular has been a frustrating one for Everton, boasting some of the best talent and quite possibly the best squad they have ever had, yet have spent much of the campaign propping up the top half. Some of Europe’s top young talent including Ross Barkley, John Stones, Gerard Deulofeu and Romelu Lukaku all call Everton home, but with hopes of a craved Champions League spot looking all but dashed, their in-demand futures could be in doubt, in particular Lukaku, whose name is a regular in the transfer paper round.
With no top-level European football, fresh contracts with improved salaries could be what it takes to tie down the Blues’ stars and secure solid foundations for a thriving future in an age where loyalty is a fading quality rather than the norm.
Then, of course, comes buying new players. The £28 million signing of Lukaku from Chelsea in 2014 was a watershed moment for the Toffees; the club’s record transfer fee was smashed and one of world football’s hottest prospects arrived.
Most of Everton’s new signings since then have been ‘value’ signings, though, not to say they have not been impressive: free, on loan or for a bargain price, which, of course, is by no means a bad thing, especially when £4.3 million is all it takes to secure the tricky feet of Spain under-21 international Deulofeu. Ramiro Funes Mori’s signature, which cost £9 million and raised eyebrows at the time, has perhaps been Everton’s most extravagant signing from a figures perspective, but has proven to be worth every penny.
In modern football though, money is everything and everywhere you look. Clubs simply cannot compete for the best talent without cash in the bank.
The foundations at Everton are set, now – finally – the money has arrived for those foundations to be built upon.
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