Soccer-American Textor hopes to get over 'awkward spot' to close Everton deal

Eagle Football SA

12/09/2024 08:47

Sept 12 (Reuters) - American businessman John Textor
says he is an "awkward spot" in the process of buying Everton
because his information about the club is limited as co-owner of
another Premier League side, Crystal Palace, but that he is
working through the issues.
    Textor, who is selling his shares in Crystal Palace to buy
Everton from majority owner Farhad Moshiri, told Sky Sports in
an interview that he was close to knowing who would buy his 45%
stake in the London club.
    "I'm in an awkward spot but we're working through it. The
awkward spot is that I can understand the club's position ...
the accounting position," he said.
    Textor's company Eagle Football Group also owns stakes in
other clubs including French Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyonnais and
Brazilian side Botafogo.
    He said he felt that Everton's accounting problems, which
led to them being docked eight points last season after
breaching the Premier League's spending rules, were manageable.
    "There's a bit of a Chinese wall between me as an owner of
Crystal Palace and what I'm really allowed to know as a
prospective owner of another team in the same division," said
Textor, 58.
    "But I do think we're developing solutions for that
information gap and I feel we're in the very last days of
getting our comfort around that." 
    Textor said he had received several bids to buy his stake in
Crystal Palace and "we're into the final week or two of knowing
who the buyer will be" although his efforts to buy Everton could
still be interrupted by competing bids.

 (Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru, Editing by Timothy
Heritage)
 ((chiranjit.ojha@thomsonreuters.com;))