John Textor Everton takeover to be more controversial than INEOS at Manchester United
Farhad Moshiri granting exclusivity for an Everton takeover to John Textor is “meaningless” if there is no other option, says Simon Jordan.
The former Crystal Palace owner reacted on talkSPORT on 17 August when asked by Jim White why the Toffees majority shareholder had made the move to give the American a clear shot at buying the club when he still has a 45% holding at Palace.
David Ornstein reported for The Athletic on 15 August that a new period of exclusivity had been granted, but there has still not been an announcement from the club, Textor, or Moshiri.
Jordan said (11.44am): “It’s meaningless because if there’s nobody else at the front of the queue trying to buy this football club exclusivity to the only person in the room is incidental.”
But he pointed to Textor’s part ownership at Selhurst Park as a major sticking point, and of greater importance than the complications for Sir Jim Ratcliffe at Manchester United while owning Nice.
Jordan said of the British billionaire: “He’s put it into trust. That’s just window dressing, he still owns that shareholding in Nice and when they’re out of a tournament he’ll go back to [it]… I don’t know how they’re going to engineer [an Everton deal] because it’s in the same league.
“It’s slightly more controversial because there’ll be a real competitive jeopardy argument. Ultimately Nice playing in the Europa League alongside Manchester United will have less controversy attached than if you’ve got two teams on a Saturday afternoon, on Sky television, playing one another with the same owner in the director’s box”.
John Textor must sell Crystal Palace shares for Everton takeover
There are said to be other interested parties for the Toffees [Matt Slater, 19 July] so if Moshiri has indeed opted for Textor it may be more of a decision than Jordan claims.
But whether other offers are actually viable is another matter [Price of Football, 23 June] as the situation continues to seriously lack clarity.
The Crystal Palace issue arguably makes Textor’s candidacy unrealistic as well unless he can shift his holding, although that has proven impossible for him over a significant period now.
He has also been tipped to struggle with a major liquidity issue if he does find himself in a position to actually tackle the matter on Merseyside [The Esk, 9 August].
There is at least hope that the issues which The Friedkin Group decided were “unresolvable” after their own withdrawal [Talking The Blues, 20 July] can be overcome if a new exclusivity agreement has been put in place in the wake of that.
But there is a very long way to go to get within touching distance of a new regime at long, long last.
In other Everton news, Paul Joyce has named “one to watch” who could leave Goodison Park before the transfer deadline.
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