Everton takeover now officially off as Farhad Moshiri tells fans the club is not for sale
Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri has officially shut down any takeover talk through an email to fans shared by Paul Joyce.
The club had been the subject of interest for a consortium led by Peter Kenyon, with talks ending messily at the beginning of July according to the Liverpool Echo.
Kenyon was thought to have been undeterred in his attempts to buy The Toffees, but Moshiri has told fans that the club is not for sale, as first shared by Joyce via Twitter and later via an official statement.
“There has been much talk of investment in our football club recently – even takeovers – but I want to clarify that there is no ‘for sale’ sign currently hanging outside Everton football club,” the post read.
However, the statement did offer some hope of future investment by saying “it will always be pragmatic to explore all potential investment opportunities.”
A shambles
It is obvious to everyone, except possibly the man himself, that Moshiri’s ownership of the club is unsustainable.
Years of rash investment, overpaying for mediocre players and hiring-and-firing managers has taken its toll on the club.
The club is strapped for cash, has been forced into selling its star player and came within one game of losing its Premier League status last season.
This should have been a wake-up call to Moshiri that this was one failing too far and no flashy new stadium could make up for it.
A takeover was seen as the best thing for the club, a way to start anew and put the struggles of the Moshiri era firmly in the past.
Instead, by stubbornly holding onto the club, he runs the risk of the horrors of last season to repeat themselves again.
However, there is hope in the form of Kevin Thelwell and Frank Lampard who are both doing great work to steady the club behind the scenes.
Lampard has showed he does his best work when given limited resources, so it is to be hoped he can repeat that next season.
However, the news will still come as a hammer-blow to Everton fans who have grown weary of the Moshiri era and were hoping for a fresh start.