Dan Friedkin plan expected as Everton takeover issues admitted amid Roma complication
Dan Friedkin will have a plan to deal with the “issues” that may lie ahead if he completes an Everton takeover while still owner of Roma, according to Alan Myers.
The Sky Sports journalist responded to questions via Twitter on 21 June after the club announced the American had entered into an exclusivity agreement with Farhad Moshiri, indicating that he doesn’t anticipate “any issue” preventing the deal going through as due diligence is conducted on one side and the Premier League do their own checks.
In response to the potential for complications with UEFA down the line if both the Toffees and the Giallorossi qualified for European competition, which had been seen as a barrier to Friedkin following through with a bid at all [Talking the Blues, 8 June] Myers admitted there are “issues around dual ownership” but is “sure” it won’t become a problem.
He wrote: “If all is as it should be it will happen, all parties want it, obviously due diligence has to be completed and the PL process, I don’t see any issue at this point but I’m not buying it.”
Regarding the European competition point he said: “I’m sure there won’t be an issue with that.
“There are issues around dual ownership in European competition but I just don’t see it being an issue when it comes to it, you wouldn’t put yourself in such a position without a plan.”
Farhad Moshiri a step closer to finally selling Everton
Logically it would make little sense for Friedkin to plow hundreds of millions of pounds into a deal to buy the club off Moshiri if he is worried about the UEFA issue in the future.
There are fears in Rome that the greater financial might of the Premier League might lead the 59-year-old to ultimately favour Everton over his Serie A side [Gazzetta dello Sport, 18 June] but either way it is a problem that is likely to be some way off.
It is possible that he envisages selling one of the two before such a time where he has to confront the issue, but until that time arrives, or unless Friedkin makes it known how he plans to deal with it, his solution won’t become clear.
Right now, after a season where the Toffees looked like being in danger of getting 777 Partners as their new owners or facing administration if the takeover fell through, the fact that Friedkin’s group is now in the driving seat has to be comparably a positive.
There is said to be a legal complication that is not yet in the public domain which any buyer has to navigate, which currently could be the main stumbling block to this deal being completed [The Esk, 20 June], but Myers remains positive.
On paper, Moshiri needs to sell and Friedkin appears to be serious about buying to have jumped ahead of four other known bids, from MSP Sports Capital, Andy Bell and George Downing, Vici Private Finance, and a consortium led by Vatche Manoukian.
And with the expectation that the Premier League will wave him through with nothing of the difficulty that 777 had [Tutto Mercato Web, 18 June] the situation appears to be in Moshiri and Friedkins’ hands.
However, after negotiations with multiple groups have fallen through in the past two years for various reasons, including a group led by Peter Kenyon in 2022, MSP Sports Capital a year ago, and then 777 through last season, success here can’t be taken for granted.
In other Everton news, two more Premier League sides want to sign a Toffees star and the club may be forced into a quick choice thanks to a “major concern”.
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