John Textor, a co-owner of Crystal Palace, is eager to acquire Everton.
John Textor has declared that he is once again attempting to purchase Everton. In May, once it became apparent that the previous prospective buyers, 777 Partners, were about to fail, Textor announced that he was interested in finalising a Goodison Park takeover.
However, Textor, who presently holds 45% of Crystal Palace, withdrew his support, and exclusivity rights were granted to the Friedkin Group.
The Friedkin Group pulled the plug last month, however, and Farhad Moshiri’s 94.1% majority shareholding is back on the market. And although Textor first needs to sell his stake in Palace, he is keen on purchasing Everton.
Textor, whose Eagle Football Group owns Lyon in Ligue 1, said in a statement to the Mirror: “I am still an owner in Palace – I would have to clear out of that before I could buy anything else.” We have expressed our desire to own a majority stake in any UK club, Premier League or Championship.
“Yes, we are looking at Everton along with everybody else. I would have to rationalise my interest in Palace before I could close anything.
Textor’s multi-club portfolio also includes Brazilian club Botafogo. And he revealed his aim is to recruit talent from the Americas to Europe and owning Everton can boost that plan.
He added: “I am an Anglophile when it comes to football. When I see these legendary teams come along, some in the Premier League, some in the Championship, clubs that I grew up with, they have an appeal. They also have an appeal to our business model because if I follow these great teams, then so do athletes around the world.
“We are signing athletes down in Brazil right now because of the dream of playing onto Europe. It is important to have one of those great, authentic English clubs at the heart of our constellation of clubs.
“I say constellation not multi-club because I think every one of our clubs should be a champion. The feeder system doesn’t really work for us. But it does work that players from South, Central and North America all want to be here so it is important that we have a good partner in the Premier League as part of our family at Eagle. We will definitely keep looking until we find the right fit.”
