Kevin Thelwell wants to agree Everton exit deal for colleague to leave with him
Kevin Thelwell will officially join Rangers when he departs Everton this summer, with his contract on Merseyside coming to a close.
The sporting director will head north to Ibrox in a period of overhaul for the Glaswegian giants, as they move closer to an American takeover driven in part by the Leeds United owners, 49ers Enterprises.
Everton have already crossed paths with newly-promoted Leeds in recent weeks, with Angus Kinnear joining the Toffees as CEO from across the Pennines.
Thelwell wants to take Everton colleague with him to Rangers
With Rangers having been in disarray and approaching new ownership, they are looking to take a leaf out of the book of Everton, who have been through similar turbulence and are now back on the straight and narrow under The Friedkin Group.
Thelwell has a mixed record of success in terms of the signings he oversaw at Goodison Park since his arrival in 2022, but could certainly do a job in the Scottish Premiership with a club who have been pretty rudderless in recent times.
The outgoing Toffees sporting director is keen to take a highly-esteemed colleague with him to Ibrox, too, as reported by the Daily Record (23 April).
The staff member in question is academy director Gareth Prosser – who came to Merseyside just months after Thelwell’s appointment and the pair worked closely together at Goodison, having also been colleagues at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Rangers have suffered with several major unfilled roles in their hierarchy this season, and have been without a figurehead to lead their academy since Zeb Jacobs departed last year to join Dutch giants Feyenoord.
TFG likely to invest in experienced heads of domain
So far in the reign of TFG, they have shown no reason why they would scrimp in their bid to attract established appointments to the Everton hierarchy.
Kinnear is a very established and astute director and will add key business experience to this side of the operations at Bramley-Moore Dock.
Thelwell could be considered a miss, and it was previously hinted that Kinnear would head up an overall team which incorporates both football and business.
| Kevin Thelwell – career | |
| Preston North End – academy manager | 2004-2005 |
| Derby County – U18 manager | 2005-2008 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers – U18 manager, academy manager, sporting director | 2008-2020 |
| New York Red Bulls – director of football | 2020-2022 |
| Everton – sporting director | 2022-2025 |
| Rangers – sporting director | 2025- |
It would be a risk, but if any new structure begins to go wrong, the Friedkins are never ones to waste time and Everton fans would at least hope they would then appoint more adept recruits to the board.
David Moyes‘ managerial experience has seen him operate in all manner of different regime structures, so he is likely to be able to fit his style around however TFG decide to move forward.