Former Premier League striker Alan Smith has accused The Friedkin Group of “just flipping” Everton to make a profit, saying the club deserves new owners who want to build it in the long term. His comments come after the Houston-based company announced last Friday that they plan to sell the club, less than 22 months after completing their takeover of Farhad Moshiri’s 99.5% controlling stake.
Friedkin Group under fire
Chairman Dan Friedkin has never attended a Blues match, and the group faced criticism for what was widely viewed as a chaotic end to the summer transfer window. Everton brought in over £100 million on transfer deadline day, selling last season’s top scorer Beto, Iliman Ndiaye, Tim Iroegbunam and Nathan Patterson, while Adam Aznou was loaned out. After the late collapse of the purchase of USA World Cup star Folarin Balogun from Monaco, manager David Moyes was left with a first-team squad of just 18 outfield players, including only one striker, one left-back and one right-back.
Smith's verdict
Despite the upheaval, Everton remain unbeaten this season after eight matches in all competitions following a 2-2 draw at Hull City on Sunday. Smith, who won two league titles with Arsenal plus the FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup-Winners’ Cup, scoring 115 goals in 351 games, told the ECHO via BestBettingSites.co.uk: “It’s a bit strange.
“I have big suspicions that The Friedkin Group are just flipping it to make a profit. It’s not often you get owners just having a club like that for such a short space of time.
“David Moyes is as much in the dark as a lot of the fans are, he obviously didn’t speak to them at all, really. So, now Everton will be hoping to get some good owners that are in it for the long term and want to build the club.”
Investment opportunity
Smith agrees with Moyes that Everton are a great investment opportunity for someone with a vision. He added: “Listen, they’ve obviously got a beautiful new stadium.
“Finch Farm, the training ground, is an excellent facility. So, it’s not as if new owners have got to come in and start from scratch and think about building a new stadium as a lot of owners do with clubs.
“Hopefully that will be an attractive proposition. I don’t know what The Friedkin Group are going to ask for it. Whether they might price themselves out of the market; I don’t know. Hopefully there will be a few suitors for Everton.”
