Everton’s proposed takeover by 777 Partners is in doubt and Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor is considering a move for the club, provided he can sell his stake in Palace first
Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor is looking to sell his stake in the club and considering a bid to buy Everton.
Textor owns a 45 percent stake in Palace through his company Eagle Football, but he is keen to buy a majority stake in another English club. The company already holds majority stakes in French side Lyon, Belgium outfit RWD Molenbeek and Brazil’s Botafogo.
And in a statement, Textor said that Eagle Football’s “integrated sporting model” was “simply not a perfect fit for Crystal Palace “. As a result, investment banking group Raine have been enlisted to sell his stake in the club and he is “extremely confident that a good number of prospective partners will jump at the chance” to buy it.
Textor also revealed he is interested in buying Everton, whose takeover agreement with 777 Partners is set to expire at the end of the month. Everton owner Farhad Moshiri told the club’s fan advisory board earlier this week that he had received “unsolicited approaches from other parties” and Textor appears to be one of them.
When asked if he has held talks about purchasing Everton, he told the Athletic : “Yes. With the existing constituents – different groups, different lenders, different equity holders. I’ve asked them ‘is there a way to solve all this confusion and address everyone’s problems?’
“I’m very open-minded to it but I don’t want to come into a situation where I’m not really welcome. I’m watching it but 777 still has a contract. There are people that are close to the club who care a lot about it who are also investing.
“There’s the guy running it (Moshiri) who’s still calling the shots. Maybe we’re uniquely positioned to solve a lot of problems for people but we’re just watching it right now because there are other people who already own pieces of that club who also want to figure it out.
“I’m looking at that but it’s quite confusing and some things have to clean up.” However, Textor must sell his stake in Palace before making an official bid for Everton and he is concerned someone else may get there first.
“Everton represents the best of English football: the struggles, the glory, the want,” he added. “I love that it’s out of London. Everybody should want to buy Everton right now. That kind of club is what I’m referring to, where the risk and the reward of your relationship and community is so great and you could come in, make promises and keep them.
“How great would it be to take one of these great English clubs back to sort of glory? We’re also looking at other opportunities and we don’t need to jump right out of Palace right into something. That’d be a mistake.
“I suspect that the problem with Everton is it won’t be available by the time we would be ready for it. You can’t own two clubs in one league and we’re not going to rush the situation at Palace, no matter how good another opportunity looks.”
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