Everton’s American Owners Explore a Sale of the Club Just Two Years After Their £400m Takeover

• Everton’s owners, The Friedkin Group, have confirmed they are exploring a sale of a controlling interest in the club, fewer than two years after completing a takeover reported to be worth more than £400m.
• The announcement follows a chaotic deadline day in which Everton agreed to sell teenage midfielder Harrison Armstrong for £40m before pulling out, leaving manager David Moyes with only 18 senior outfield players.
• Moyes revealed in September that he has never met or spoken to chairman Dan Friedkin at any point in the time he has been back as Everton’s manager, a return that began in January 2025.

Moyes Still Has Not Met the Man Who Owns Him

The Friedkin Group said in a statement that it is “exploring new investment options for Everton Football Club, including the potential sale of a controlling interest.” The American group completed its takeover of Everton in 2024, in a deal reported to be worth more than £400m.

The group said the decision comes after it prioritised stability, investment and the opening of Everton’s new stadium over the past year. “When TFG became custodians of Everton, the club faced significant financial uncertainty and challenges both on and off the pitch,” the statement read. “The immediate priority was to provide the stability, investment and support needed to secure the club’s future, including helping to bring the long-promised stadium to completion for its deserving supporters. With that foundation now safely in place, the time is right to begin the next chapter for Everton.”

TFG is led by chairman Dan Friedkin, who is based in Houston and leaves the day-to-day running of the club to his son-in-law, Rishi Majithia, working alongside chief executive Angus Kinnear. In September, Moyes said he had never met or spoken to Friedkin at any point from the moment he returned as Everton manager in January 2025.

The timing follows a deadline day that left fans furious. Everton accepted a £40m bid from Nottingham Forest for England Under-19 midfielder Harrison Armstrong, only to pull out of the deal under pressure. Supporters stayed angry after striker Beto was sold to Fiorentina shortly afterwards, a move that left Everton with only one recognised senior striker in 23-year-old Frenchman Thierno Barry.

TFG said it will only “entertain interest from parties who we strongly believe will be the right stewards to take the club forward,” and added that its focus “will remain unchanged” while a buyer is sought. “We will support the club in all ways necessary to achieve success on the pitch and will continue efforts to make a positive difference in the communities the club serves,” the statement continued.

An Unspectacular Tenure

BBC Sport chief football writer Phil McNulty wrote that the decision to explore a sale comes as no great surprise after a turbulent few months. A fracture opened up between TFG and Everton’s fanbase over the attempted sale of Armstrong, and the £65m departure of Iliman Ndiaye to Manchester City, on top of a cautious approach in the transfer market that suggested limited ambition on the ownership’s part.

That approach stood in sharp contrast to the more hands-on style TFG has shown at its other club, AS Roma, who bring in the additional revenue of playing Champions League football. Moyes revealing that he had never spoken to Friedkin, who has not attended an Everton game in the 21 months the Scot has been back as manager, only strengthened the belief among supporters that TFG are effectively absentee owners.

TFG secured 99.5 per cent of Everton in 2024, succeeding former owner Farhad Moshiri after the club had fallen into financial crisis. The group has put Everton on a stable financial footing and moved it into a new stadium, a project effectively completed before the takeover, leaving the club an attractive proposition for potential buyers. That stability will likely stand as TFG’s main achievement in what will, once Everton is sold, be remembered as an unspectacular spell in charge.

“It’s Come as a Bit of a Shock”

Former Everton goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis, speaking on 5 Live Breakfast, described the plan to sell the club as unexpected. “It’s come as a bit of a shock. They have stabilised the club. There was so much financial uncertainty when they arrived, it’s felt like a turbulent time,” she said.

“We have a stadium to be crazily proud of, it’s going to generate revenue from a commercial point of view. If the Friedkin Group sells up tomorrow, they have left the club in a much better place. I just hope that they do their due diligence. I hope the new owners want to drive the club forward. Everton fans have spent too much time in a financially turbulent spell.”

Everton’s search for stable leadership has already run through two ownership changes inside a decade. Moshiri’s reign ended in financial turmoil that forced the sale of academy prospects just to meet spending rules, and supporters spent years fearing relegation or administration before TFG’s arrival steadied the ship. A third regime change in so short a span would test the patience of a fanbase that has grown used to promises of a bright future arriving instead as fresh uncertainty.

For Moyes, the uncertainty arrives at an awkward moment. Everton sit seventh in the Premier League after seven matches, their best start in years, built on a squad he has repeatedly said is too thin up front. Whoever buys the club next will inherit a manager who has delivered results with limited resources, and a fanbase that has made clear it wants more than stability from whoever takes charge.

WRITTEN BY

Jarrod

Jarrod Partridge is the Founder of Futbol Chronicle and an accredited journalist with over 30 years of experience following international football. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, Jarrod has covered matches at stadiums around the world, bringing first-hand insight to every match report, player profile, and tactical analysis he writes.

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