Everton are once again at the centre of ownership speculation after The Friedkin Group confirmed, via a brief statement on Friday, that they are exploring a sale of the Premier League club.
The announcement, just 170 words long, marked a muted end to what had been billed as a stabilising new chapter for Everton. TFG, who also control Italian side AS Roma, completed a takeover of the Merseyside club in December 2024, paying more than £400m for a 99.5% stake. That deal was seen as rescuing Everton from the turbulent final years under previous owner Farhad Moshiri, and came with optimism that the club would soon move into its new home at Bramley Moore Dock.
According to football finance analyst Kieran Maguire, TFG are likely to seek between £750m and £800m for a full sale of the club, a figure that would also require any buyer to absorb existing debts of roughly £468m.
Despite the initial promise of their arrival, TFG's time in charge at Everton has been defined by distance rather than engagement. Much of the group's attention has remained fixed on Roma, and it has emerged that chairman Dan Friedkin has never attended an Everton fixture in person. More strikingly, he is understood to have never held a direct conversation with manager David Moyes since the Scot returned to the club in January 2025.
That revelation came in the wake of a chaotic summer transfer window that soured relations between supporters and the ownership group, shifting what had been a wary tolerance of TFG into open frustration.
Moyes, however, was keen to highlight the underlying strengths of the club regardless of who owns it. "Everton have history and heritage," he said. "They are Premier League perennials. They look like they will stay there and they have a passionate fanbase who fill a superb 50,000-plus stadium."
He also pointed to the financial groundwork already in place, contrasting it with the disorder left behind by the previous regime. "You are not having to spend money on an upgrade of that stadium," Moyes said. "I have a lot of respect for the finance people at the club. Unlike some of the chaos of Moshiri and what he left behind, you can lift up the carpet now at Everton and nothing unpleasant will come out."
Drawing on a well-known political phrase, Moyes suggested the club was essentially primed for new investment. "To paraphrase a former Prime Minister, you have got an 'over ready' football club coming on to the market," he said. "If you are an owner who wants to accelerate things at a football club, you have a starting point for that. And my start point for potential buyers would be the States."
The disconnect between TFG and those running the club day-to-day was underscored further when Moyes revealed he learned of the planned sale at the same time as the general public. Speaking ahead of Everton's trip to face Hull, he did not hide his frustration.
"I'm disappointed that Evertonians have to go through another period of 'who are our owners?'" Moyes said. "I truly believed with new ownership we were in it completely. My ambition coming back was trying to get Everton back to the levels they have been in the past, and that is challenging for Europe more often."
He added: "It has been a difficult summer for us. I only found out this morning. Maybe, I am a little bit surprised, but maybe I shouldn't be that surprised."
With TFG now testing the market, Everton supporters face yet another period of uncertainty over who will ultimately take charge of the club's future.
Based on reporting from BBC Sport Football.