Beleaguered Everton Football Club may finally be seeing some light at the end of a long, dark tunnel as they look set to welcome new owners.
On Monday, the Friedkin Group reached an agreement to buy Farhad Moshiri’s majority 94% stake in the Toffees, seemingly bringing to an end the British-Iranian’s tenure.
It’s been a turbulent spell. After taking control in 2016, Moshiri spoke of ambitious aims and spent big. But his reign is not one Everton supporters will remember fondly.
Squandered money and deeper financial issues, thin squads struggling at the wrong end of the Premier League table, and fan protests over the way the club is run have been features of recent years, with Moshiri and some board members staying away from Goodison Park.
The club and supporters have been here before, of course, given hope when 777 Partners agreed a deal to buy the club last September.
The Miami-based investment firm were unable to complete the purchase. Mired in legal and financial problems, 777 were unable to satisfy the Premier League over its owners’ and directors’ test.
This is a hurdle which the Friedkin Group, who also own Roma, are expected to clear without any such issues.
“It is great news for the football club,” former Everton captain Alan Stubbs told BBC Radio Merseyside. “Dan Friedkin brings a wealth of experience from the footballing side and it is really positive, but I am trying not to get too excited.
“We have been rudderless and going nowhere off the pitch for far too long.”
Sources close to the deal have said there is “full confidence” in completing the transaction within the next eight to 12 weeks and there is no reason why the Friedkin Group would not pass the regulatory tests.
Insiders have hailed a “momentous” day which could mark a “major milestone” for the future of the club.
What do Friedkins bring to the table?
The Friedkins are immensely wealthy, with their billions being made in the car industry, but the handbrake was pulled on a deal for them to take control of the Toffees only two months ago.
The group agreed a deal in principle to purchase Moshiri’s majority shareholding in June, but talks were called off a month later after the two parties failed to finalise an agreement.
But they had never really gone away, maintaining a relationship with stakeholders after providing a loan of £200m in June, which is expected to be turned into equity.
While US entrepreneur John Textor tried to jump in to do a deal, his involvement was complicated by owning a stake in Crystal Palace, and Moshiri had maintained dialogue in the background with the Friedkin Group.
The deal was reignited and a statement on Monday said that they were looking forward to “providing stability to the club and sharing our vision for its future.”
The group have provided Everton with a further cash injection and would have no trouble clearing further external debt of around £400m.
An agreement has been reached with Rights and Media Funding who are owed £225m by the club, while there is also agreement over a £200m loan from 777 with financial firm A-Cap, who have seized 777’s assets.
The club, meanwhile, posted losses of £89.1m for the accounts covering the 2022-23 season, with net debt rising to £330.6m.
Owner and chief executive, Dan Friedkin, is listed on Forbes as the 383rd richest person in the world with a net worth of £5.7bn.
Friedkin is an aeroplane enthusiast, his grandfather founded an airline in the US, while he himself piloted a Spitfire in the Hollywood blockbuster Dunkirk.
He also reportedly owns one of the largest collections of vintage military war planes in America.
After years in the doldrums, are Everton now on course to fly high again and be propelled to new horizons?
What sort of owners are the Friedkins?
Everton are one of the great institutions of English football with nine league titles to their name. But their supporters have been starved of silverware success since winning the last of their five FA Cups back in 1995.
The Friedkin Group have invested around £830m since purchasing Serie A side Roma in 2020 and delivered success on the pitch by lifting their first major European trophy with the Europa Conference League under Jose Mourinho in 2022.
“It has been a very quiet ownership, you don’t hear much from them and they are low profile,” Italian football journalist Daniele Verri told BBC Sport.
“They are proper American businessmen, they don’t mix with other people or fans, they don’t have a direct connection to the manager so they leave the directors or general managers to take care of those relationships.
“They will probably approach it the same way at Everton, with people from the football world in charge of the day-to-day business but the final decision being taken by them.”
A Europa League final came under Mourinho in 2022-23, but sacking the popular Portuguese boss in January, as well as dismissing his successor in club legend Daniele de Rossi last week has angered supporters.
There may be considerable concerns among the Toffees fanbase if the Friedkin Group fail to ‘get’ the passionate supporters and what the sport means to those on Merseyside.
Verri added: “They need to be careful because at Roma they have demonstrated they don’t really know much about football or quite understand how important the fans, the city, the whole environment is and how big a part it plays.”
What do the Friedkins need to address?
Everton battled against points deductions to stay up last season and staved off relegation on the final day of the 2022-23 campaign.
After a wretched start to this term, the team lie joint-bottom of the Premier League table with just one point from their opening five games.
The main aim for the team will again be to ensure survival and beyond that the Friedkins can then start planning for the future in the top-flight.
The Toffees are playing their final season at Goodison Park before moving to their new state-of-the-art venue on Bramley Moore-Dock for the start of next term, which, with its near-53,000 capacity, will significantly boost their revenue streams.
And what about the future of Sean Dyche, the eighth permanent manager during Moshiri’s stewardship?
Club sources have said his job is currently safe because of having credit in the bank for the job he has done working under “very difficult” circumstances during his 20 months in charge.
But the 53-year-old is into the final 12 months of his contract and new ownership invariably brings about a new manager.
Former chair of Everton’s fan forum Nick Mernock told BBC Sport the club has been run “like a corner shop” without any “direction or strategy”.
Julie Clarke, secretary of the fans’ advisory board, summed up the feeling of a fanbase that has been ground down by “monstrous” talk of finance, owners and Profit and Sustainability Rules.
She told BBC Radio Merseyside it will be “lovely to just be able to enjoy football again.”
Cynical supporters might not be getting overexcited just yet, but signs are pointing to a new dawn for Everton.