American John Textor is worth £3.7 billion and is part of an ownership group that has clubs in Brazil, Belgium, France and a football youth academy in the US.
He’s a fan of football and is a regular watching the Premier League with his football-mad children. He is also seemingly incredibly keen to buy Everton Football Club after first submitting a bid in May and again in July when the Friedkin Group’s proposed takeover collapsed on the eve of Everton’s pre season opener against Sligo Rovers.
There is one problem. Textor already owns 45% of shares in Crystal Palace and he would need to sell them if he wanted to pursue a takeover of Everton. He, according to the Guardian, is optimistic he can sell them quickly and he already has an offer on the table from fellow directors Josh Harris and David Blitzer. They own 18% stakes and would become majority shareholders if the offer is accepted.
However Textor has already rejected that offer, seemingly upset that it was for the £87 million he originally paid. He thinks the club is in a better position with a top manager in Oliver Glasner who he personally loves (he was previously quoted as saying he’d be Lyon manager if he could speak French) and a spectacular new stand on the way. But it means if Moshiri was open to his bid for Everton an avenue remains to sell his shares if he can swallow not making a profit on his investment.
Ed Aarons, who broke the news of Textor bidding for Everton, also believes a Middle Eastern investor and a US consortium backed by a major sports star are keen on owning a minority share in Palace, which could open Textor up to buying a new club.
Textor is a strong proponent of the multi club model. He says: “The only place where I think I would like to see more collaboration is when Palace is struggling with those reserves and struggling with injuries and I have a boat-load of athletes.”
There are clear issues surrounding the ownership but Textor is also believed to be aware it will take time. He wants to refinance loans around the new stadium to steady Everton’s finances and potentially keep the club going until as late as next year, when he can complete a takeover. How he plans to do that has not been revealed but could mean he will play a long game to oust Moshiri and fully take control of Everton.
Interestingly, Textor has hinted others are interested in Everton too. If he can get ahead of these unnamed other interested parties then what can Everton fans expect from Textor?
In short, Everton would become more of a multi-club network club than even those in the City Group. Textor is fully behind multi club ownership and his entire football philosophy is based around the idea. Everton would soon be closely linked to Lyon in France, Botafogo in Brazil and Moleenbeek in Belgium.
It would likely see another major overhaul of the management and scouting teams, with a complete change in the boardroom with Eagle Football people running every aspect of the club. It would also mean players flooding in from Brazil, France and Belgium as the multi club model kicks in.
Whether Everton fans want to be part of that remains to be seen and with authorities clamping down on moves between clubs it could be that a watered down multi club model appears in future. For the meantime though Textor would be keen to move talent from Brazil to Lyon and Everton, often using intermediary clubs to sign promising players before moving them on.
Transfers
Expect more deals like that of Thiago Almada, an Argentinian international midfielder who was bought by Textor from the MLS for £16m and moved to Botafogo, before he will be moved on to Lyon in January. It is believed success at Lyon could mean a move to Crystal Palace – or even Everton if the takeover is a success.
Other Brazilians have also made the move to Lyon from Botafogo in the last 12 months and we can expect that pipeline would also open for Everton. Textor has been vocal about ‘filling gaps’ left by injuries using the multi-club model and that would mean cheap loans or transfers to fill problem spots in the Everton squad.
The plus side would be some excellent loan opportunities for Everton’s talented youth players in France and Belgium especially.
Although Lyon’s recent transfer activity is a worry. They have spent big this summer by paying over £30m for Nottingham Forest’s 28-year-old centre back Niakhate and £20m on midfielder Mangala, who they signed on loan in January with an obligation to buy. They also splashed out on Ernest Nuamah from fellow Eagle Football side Molenbeen for £20m. He was on loan last year and impressed with his pace and directness.
However, reports today suggest Lyon are already trying to sell Mangala and Nuamah to balance the books after big spending in two transfer windows. It is hardly a model of prudent financial practice and will worry many Everton fans with the club walking a financial PSR tightrope.
Manager changes
While Textor has been vocal of his admiration for the football knowledge of Palace sporting director Dougie Freedman it remains to be seen if he will want to continue to work with Kevin Thelwell. He almost definitely will need convincing on Sean Dyche though.
Textor was vocally against the re-hiring of Roy Hodgson at Palace and argued as early as December for his removal. A key player in the hiring of Oliver Glasner, he has praised the German’s ‘modern coaching’ with a focus on high pressing, ball recovery and a modern style of football. Textor chopped and changed managers at Lyon as the team struggled and it may be that Dyche would need to oversee excellent on the pitch performance to convince Textor he is the man for the job.
In fact, the Eagle Football group to often boast of their changes to management teams. On its website it says of Lyon: “OLM has hired a new sporting director, head of scouting, and head coach in the past six months, changing the culture and trajectory of the team. “
In the boardroom
Textor is a hands on owner and would be very involved in the day to day running of the club. He is the outspoken front man for Lyon and is probably covered more in the UK press than majority Palace share owner Steve Parrish.
Key to the sporting side would be Dr Michael Gerlinger, who spent 18 years at Bayern Munich as Vice President of Sports Business and helped to create the European Club Association (ECA), which led to the permanent disbanding of the highly influential G14 set of clubs that included the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Liverpool.
His role in the group is “to coordinate the sporting activities of all clubs in the Eagle network, to facilitate collaboration under Eagle’s unique player asset creation model, and to steer the Group’s football talent network. The combination of a world-class club network and the latest technological innovations in data and artificial intelligence enables Eagle Football to optimize the recruiting, training and education of players, offering unique career pathways.”
Chief financial officer David Horin would bring much-needed financial expertise. A former KPMG expert, he was also the Managing Director in charge of Global Accounting Policy and Financial Reporting at Jefferies Financial Group, Inc., (NYSE Symbol: JEF), a full-service global investment bank.
The Eagle Group also includes Laurent Prud’homme, a media expert whose previous work with Eurosport and L’Equipe would be a huge benefit to Everton in the form of better communications and marketing, as well as more commercial media opportunities.
Promisingly, all clubs in the Eagle Football network have seen impressive revenue growth. Lyon recorded a 26% increase in revenue and reached their first cup final in 12 years in 2024 – indicating after a rocky start there are some hints of success on the pitch to match those figures off the pitch.
The group boasts of its success in steadying Lyon’s finances, to the point where it satisfied the league’s concerns over financial management and leadership left over from the previous owners. While Textor’s brash media personality and love of the multi club setup may not sit right with many Evertonians a takeover would at least spell the beginning of the end for the club’s financial issues.
He may not be the ideal candidate to move the club forward but there is also a hope his vocal interest will encourage other parties to come forward. The more options the club has the better and this time it could lead to Moshiri making a correct decision. After all, he’s due one.
Pic: By Agência Senado – https://www.flickr.com/photos/agenciasenado/53672748139/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=151238667