The American businessman John Textor has said the opportunity to become the new owner of Everton is like being asked if he would like to become the president of the United States.
Textor, 58, has entered a period of exclusivity with Everton’s majority shareholder, Farhad Moshiri, although the American must first sell his stake in Crystal Palace before completing any deal. In an interview with Sky Sports News, Textor said he was confident everything could be completed before his exclusivity agreement expires on 30 November.
“Nobody wakes up and thinks: ‘I get to buy Everton,’” Textor said. “But if you decide football is what you want in your life and then somebody comes along and asks you if you want to become the owner of Everton, it’s like someone asking you if you want to be president of the United States. Of course you do.”
Textor is the fifth bidder to have been granted a period of exclusivity by Moshiri. Last season Everton were docked a total of eight points for separate breaches of the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR).
Textor also owns stakes in the Ligue 1 club Lyon, the Brazilian side Botafogo and Molenbeek in Belgium. He said he had received two serious offers to buy his shares in Palace – with 14 groups initially expressing interest – but admitted the situation prevented him getting a full look at Everton’s books.
“I’m in an awkward spot but we’re working through it,” he said. “The awkward spot is that I can understand the club’s position … the accounting position and I feel it’s manageable in terms of the PSR problem.
“I don’t quite know the Premier League’s perspective on that because there’s a bit of a Chinese Wall between me as an owner of Crystal Palace and what I’m really allowed to know as a prospective owner of another team in the same division.”
Textor denied he had held any talks with prospective candidates to replace Sean Dyche as manager. The American would intend to pursue a very different model of recruitment, using his knowledge of global football, and said he would first speak to Dyche to see if he could work in that way.
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“I haven’t spoken to any coaches about the Everton job,” he said. “There’s no truth to that. I don’t know Sean personally but I watched him for so many years at Burnley doing wonders with no budget and so obviously he’s a guy who knows how to coach in the Premier League.
“I’d sit down with him at some point in the future and say that I’m going to bring him a very different profile of player from any corner of the world and ask him if he is interested. I’d ask him if he could coach this squad.”
Everton are playing their final season at Goodison Park before moving to their new home at Bramley-Moore Dock. Textor said he would prefer not to leave Goodison, but recognises the financial opportunities the new stadium offers.
“I would stay at Goodison for ever, but investors are clearly supportive because when we talk about the capital that I have to buy the club, I do believe I can take this squad well beyond its current level of competitiveness alone,” he said. “But let’s face it, we don’t want Everton to be bouncing around eighth place for ever. We want to win a title and so to do that you need serious capital. I’ve always been very good at accessing it in my life and so the stadium is huge in that respect.”
Source: theguardian.com
