Everton moves to cool takeover speculation following Textor interview

Everton FC has cooled speculation on a possible takeover by American, John Textor, following comments he made earlier this week.

Last month the 58-year-old digital entrepreneur revealed that he had put his 45% stake in Crystal Palace up for sale to pursue a takeover of Everton.

In an interview with Sky Sport this week, he said a deal is close to being reached and that he was confident of it being completed before a November 30 deadline set in an exclusivity agreement reportedly granted by Everton’s 94.1% stakeholder, British-Iranian businessman Farhad Moshiri.

This follows previous exclusivity agreements with US outfit 777 Partners and AS Roma owner, Daniel Friedkin, which both collapsed.

In the Sky interview, Textor said: “Nobody wakes up and thinks, ‘I get to buy Everton’. But if you decide football is what you want in your life, and then somebody comes along and asks you if you want to become the owner of Everton, it’s like someone asking you if you want to be President of the United States. Of course you do.”

Textor has stakes in several other clubs, including Ligue 1 club Lyon, Brazilian side Botafogo and Belgian club Molenbeek through his company, Eagle Football Holdings.

In the interview, Textor claimed he was close to selling his shares in Crystal Palace, allowing him to conclude a takeover deal with Moshiri.

However, Everton has moved to temper any such speculation.

A statement issued by the club said: “The club is aware of the comments made by John Textor in relation to a potential purchase of the club.

“While positive conversations and progress continues to be made with Mr Textor to formalise any deal with him, there remains some work to be done to complete the transaction.

“Accordingly, the comments made by Mr Textor merely represent his personal view on club matters.

“Everyone at the club is staying focused on providing the best support possible to Sean (Dyche, first team manager) and the squad as we head into the weekend’s fixture.

“The club will provide updates in respect of new investment when there is material news to communicate to supporters and other stakeholders – and this will be done through official club channels.”