Ian Wright blasts Farhad Moshiri after Everton sell Alex Iwobi to Fulham
Ian Wright has blamed Farhad Moshiri for Everton falling off in recent years after they sold Alex Iwobi to Fulham on deadline day.
The Toffees sold the Nigeria international in a £22m deal on the final day of the window, and are still yet to pick up a win in the Premier League after five games this season.
And Wright, speaking on Premier League Productions (19 September), admitted that he was stunned by the decision and claimed it shows how far they have “fallen off”.
“Everton have sold, for me, arguably, their best creative player in the last couple of seasons in Iwobi,” Wright said.
“And they sold him to Fulham. This is the level they have dropped to. I am not disrespecting Fulham. We are talking about Rooney to Manchester United, talking about big players, and even Arteta going to Arsenal.
“Players going to big clubs now. Everton are selling certain players, top players, to Fulham. That’s how far they have fallen off.
“It has to be pointed at his door, Moshiri’s door. Simply because he has come in with the money and he doesn’t realise that it’s another level of ownership now. He didn’t have the expertise for it.”
Hold fire
There are plenty of things to blame Moshiri for at this great football club, but on this occasion it feels right to say this wasn’t a bad decision on his part.
Iwobi was out of contract in 2024 and made it clear that he wasn’t interested in signing a new contract, which meant he could leave for free in the summer and agree a move elsewhere in January.
This was our last chance to get some cash in for him and when Fulham offer £22m for him, it’s impossible to say no considering the financial situation that we’re currently in.
That financial situation is obviously Moshiri’s doing to an extent and he deserves blame for that too, but the Iwobi decision actually made a lot of sense.
We needed the money and we can’t control when other teams make the bid. It was bad timing and obviously isn’t great optics for the club in the situation we’re in, but this was actually good business for once.
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