David Moyes believes Everton and their fans deserve an owner who is passionate about their club. The manager's plea comes as current owners The Friedkin Group confirmed they are looking to sell up less than two years after taking over Farhad Moshiri's 99.5% controlling stake.
Moyes, who returned to the manager's position in January 2025, oversaw the second half of Everton's final season at Goodison Park and the subsequent move to Hill Dickinson Stadium. Chairman Dan Friedkin has never seen Everton play at either venue.
Progress under Moyes
Moyes believes the Blues have progressed a lot since he returned, steering the team to nine top-eight finishes during his first spell, including their highest ever Premier League position of fourth. He said: "I hope that the people who are going to buy are looking and saying, 'By the way, this has actually moved on in a year and a half.' The commercial side, the stadium, the work that's been done, and hopefully the team – we've brought through some younger players."
He added: "So we're actually saying we think we're on the right track. If somebody would come in and give us the next heave up the ladder, then we could probably do something really good."
Transfer deadline day sales
The Blues pocketed over £100million on transfer deadline day, selling Iliman Ndiaye, last season's top scorer Beto, Tim Iroegbunam and Nathan Patterson, plus loaning out Adam Aznou. Following the late collapse of the purchase of USA World Cup star Folarin Balogun from Monaco, Moyes was left with a first-team squad of just 18 outfield players, containing a solitary striker, left-back and right-back. Despite that, his side go to Hull City unbeaten so far this season after seven matches in all competitions.
Hope for smooth transition
Moyes said: "But I hope that we get the right people. I think I'd like people who are passionate about Everton, if possible, because I think the club deserves somebody, they've been through so much. I wasn't here during the really difficult stages. So, I hope this transition from whoever we've got to whoever comes next is pretty smooth."
He reflected on the long sale process that preceded the Friedkin Group's takeover: "The people here have probably seen, week after week, the newspapers running their story: Joe Bloggs is coming to buy Everton, or Jim Smith is coming to buy Everton, or somebody else is coming every few weeks. I don't know how many years it took Everton to get sold, but it felt like a long time. So, I really hope that isn't the case [this time]. I hope we can get it done because it'll help us try to continue that building, that improvement."
