Roma owner Dan Friedkin will sign a deal to buy Everton today and enter into an exclusivity period with owner Farhad Moshiri.
That’s according to Gazzetta dello Sport, who cover the deal today after reports emerged yesterday that Friedkin was leading the race for the purchase of Everton.
The newspaper reports that Friedkin ‘has 94% of Everton in his hands’ and only has to ‘push the ball into the empty net’ at some point today.
He’s already reached an agreement in principle with Farhad Moshiri on the basis of a deal worth €475m after making a sudden move for the Toffees. His offer has been accepted by the Iranian.
Friedkin wants to expand his growing network of clubs to the Premier League, although the plan is for Roma to be the ‘showcase club, jewel of the galaxy’.
Negotiations with Moshiri proved to be “fast and transparent” and the current Everton owner quickly deemed Friedkin as the best candidate from a financial view but also in terms of his future commitment to the club.
Gazzetta say he has looked at the four years Friedkin has been in charge of Roma and seemingly been impressed by that.
The American will takeover the majority stake in Everton via Blue Heaven Holdings Limited, with the remaining 4.6% free floating, held by minority shareholders, and 1.3% remaining with former owner Bill Kenwright’s company.
The deal will have to be endorsed by the Premier League, who will initiate an ‘accounting control procedure’. This is a ‘formality’ which will take between four to six weeks to complete.
Friedkin is now well out in front and expected to sign a deal today to kickstart that process and become the new owner at Goodison Park.
While Roma will be the central club of his network, there is clear excitement about Everton and the new stadium at Bramley Moore.
He and his team believe this is a ‘revenue generator’ to push the club forwards and recover from Moshiri’s turbulent time in charge.
