Everton fans are looking forward to “stability” after seeing the club “run like a corner shop”, says former chair of the Fans’ Forum Nick Mernock.
It was confirmed on Monday that The Friedkin Group has reached an agreement to buy Farhad Moshiri’s majority 94% stake in the Blues.
If the deal meets all regulatory approval from the Premier League, the Football Association and the Financial Conduct Authority, it could bring an end to a long-standing and turbulent takeover.
“On the face of it, it looks exactly like what a lot of Evertonians wanted,” Mernock told BBC Sport.
“But a lot of us are also very battle hardened and cynical of these things.
“The announcement comes with caveats of a number of checks – financial checks, Premier League checks and clearances, so it is a mixed reaction of excitement at the potential to move forward but also a little air of ‘I will believe it when I actually see it’.”
The Friedkin Group is already a lender to the club after injecting £200m, though this could be converted to equity as part of the deal.
The agreement between the group and Moshiri’s Blue Heaven Holdings has been signed and finances are in place for completion.
“There is always concern that a new person is going to come in and put their stamp on it. It is their club, their money, so inevitably they will,” Mernock added.
“But there are hopes they will at least get a feel for the dynamic of the fan base, what the expectation is rather than make an early changes.
“With the greatest respect to the people who have had [the club] previously, we have sort of been run like a corner shop. We haven’t really had that direction, that strategy, that big perspective mentality that has taken Everton forward.
“Having that strategic stability and direction has to be the thing most Everton fans are looking forward to.”