David Moyes has disclosed a striking gap in communication at the top of Everton, revealing he has never once spoken to club owner Dan Friedkin since taking charge in January 2025, even as he tried to rally support following a chaotic close to the transfer window.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, the Everton manager confirmed that in the 20 months since replacing Sean Dyche, he has had no direct dealings with Friedkin, the founder and chief executive of The Friedkin Group, which owns the club. When pressed on whether the two men had ever met, Moyes gave a blunt answer: "No."
Instead, Moyes said his primary point of contact remains chief executive Angus Kinnear, while day-to-day ownership duties are handled by other figures within the Friedkin structure — TFG president Marc Watts, who serves as Everton's executive chair, and Rishi Majithia, Friedkin's son-in-law, who acts as the owner's representative at the club.
The revelation comes at an awkward moment for Everton's American owners, whose long-term commitment to the club has already come under scrutiny following reports of interest in fresh investment or a possible sale. It also follows a turbulent conclusion to the transfer window that left Moyes managing a thinner squad than he had hoped for heading into the new season.
The upheaval began when TFG moved to sell young midfielder Harrison Armstrong to Nottingham Forest last weekend, a decision that provoked immediate anger among Everton supporters. The club reversed course amid the backlash, but the damage to the squad had already been compounded by a string of other departures — Iliman Ndiaye, Beto, Tim Iroegbunam and Nathan Patterson all left before the window closed, leaving Moyes with fewer options than he anticipated.
Despite the disruption, Moyes struck a defiant tone, insisting the turmoil could actually unite the club rather than divide it. "We don't have a huge squad but sometimes you need to do something special in football and we will attempt to do something special," he said. He acknowledged the pressure that inevitably falls on managers in such circumstances, noting wryly that in situations like this, it is usually the man in the dugout who takes the blame.
Still, Moyes made clear his affection for Everton runs deeper than the current difficulties. "I wouldn't have come back for anybody but Everton," he said, pointing to the strength of feeling shown by fans during last week's protests over the Armstrong transfer saga as evidence of the passion he believes can now be redirected in support of the team.
"People saw the face of Evertonians last week and it can be really powerful," Moyes continued. "I would expect them to be really powerful now. Powerful for the team, powerful for the players. We're going to need extra from them because we're short. We need them. If they're not with us, then it's terrible. But they are with us. I believe they are with us."
He added that returning to Goodison Park had reenergised him personally, even amid the current setback. "I love Everton and always have done. It's reinvigorated me being back and now there's a little bump in the road. I need to get over the bump quickly and start looking at how I can make it go smoothly."
Moyes also addressed the broader issue of alignment within the club's hierarchy, suggesting that unfamiliarity between manager and ownership was a natural byproduct of a recent takeover rather than a sign of dysfunction. "We've got new owners in who are still feeling their way in the club," he said. "I think if we get to know each other more it will get better."
With the transfer window now closed, Moyes and his depleted squad face the task of translating fan frustration into on-field results as Everton look to steady themselves under their new ownership structure.
Based on reporting from The Guardian.