Roberto Martínez: Everton takeover will go through only if in club’s interests
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Version 0 of 1. Roberto Martínez has said Bill Kenwright will sell his stake in Everton only in the best interests of the club, as an American-led consortium assess the financial situation at Goodison Park. Related: What is it that attracts US investors to the multi-million-pound EPL? Everton have granted a six-week exclusivity period to a group led by John Jay Moores and Charles Noell, investors who attempted to buy a 30% shareholding in Swansea City this year, and their consortium has until the end of January to decide whether to proceed with a takeover estimated at £200m. Everton have attracted interest from several potential investors in recent years without striking a deal, with the Kansas-based group Sporting Club the latest to decide against pursing a deal in the autumn. The failure to build a new stadium since Kenwright’s True Blue Holdings bought Everton in 2000 has impacted on the club’s appeal to investors and Goodison officials have been in public dispute with the mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, over their stalled plans to develop an arena on Walton Hall Park. Everton announced a record turnover of £125.6m for the 2014-15 financial year but made a post-tax loss of £4.1m. Martínez, however, believes the Everton chairman, who has been suffering with ill health this year, will sell his 24% shareholding only providing the deal benefits the club’s long-term interests. Everton have signed a non-disclosure agreement with the American-led consortium and their manager said: “I don’t think there’s anything to comment about. It’s not something for me to go into detail.” But he added: “We all know what a fantastic chairman we have and our board will always look after the best interests of our football club going forward. We have a fantastic squad of young talent and that reflects the support in the boardroom. The chairman will always look for the best for Everton. The football club is in the best possible hands.” In terms of football, Martínez has condemned the scrutiny on Louis van Gaal’s position at Manchester United and claimed the pressure reflects the changing, volatile nature of English football. The Everton manager, who expects James McCarthy, Phil Jagielka, Steven Pienaar and Bryan Oviedo to return from injury by mid-January, said: “It is the way football in general is going. The game now is trying to sell new projects all the time and it has become so volatile. British football was never like that before but now it’s looking to sell a new project and wanting a new manager after every two or three defeats. “It has changed immensely in the last 15 years and social media has had a big impact on the way the game is viewed. If you expect a manager to be changed after a difficult period then you’ll never find successful managers or have successful periods at a club.” |