Everton FA Cup-winning hero Anders Limpar hopes new owners are in place by January in order to give David Moyes the signings he believes could have the club challenging for a top-five place.
Moyes has been left hamstrung by a disastrous transfer deadline day that saw Iliman Ndiaye sold for £65m to Manchester City and Beto, Tim Iroegbunam and Nathan Patterson also allowed to leave.
While Everton sealed the season-long loan return of Jack Grealish, and the £4m signing of Ainsley Maitland-Niles, the dramatic collapse of Folarin Balogun's big-money move from Monaco has left Moyes with just 18 senior outfield players.
Positive start despite off-field uncertainty
Despite that, the Blues have enjoyed a positive start to the season, going unbeaten in their first six Premier League matches before Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat to Chelsea, and progressing two rounds in the Carabao Cup to set up a last-16 showdown at home to Newcastle United.
However, off-the-field uncertainty again surrounds the club after The Friedkin Group (TFG) confirmed earlier this month they are willing to sell up less than two years after buying the Blues.
Limpar: Owners bought to make money
And Limpar, who won the FA Cup with Everton in 1995, said: “The thing is I heard quite early doors that the current owners just bought Everton to make money, and you can see as well that David Moyes wanted to buy more players this season. Although they did sign Christian Norgaard, which is a hell of a signing despite him being unfortunate with injuries.
“So, I am pretty sure they just bought Everton to make money and of course that is the way it goes in business, but it has not been good for Everton, I can tell you that.
“We are looking for another owner and I heard about a rumour from a person inside the club that David Moyes has never talked to the board within the ownership, which is unbelievable to me as they have been there for almost two years now. It is very important that the manager has a close relationship with the board and the board needs to be interested in the manager.
“I think that it is very good for Everton to get a new owner and take it from there.”
Moyes' contract situation
Moyes did confirm last month that he has never spoken with Dan Friedkin, the chief executive of the club’s owners, TFG. Explaining his relationship with the group, the Blues boss said: “My real contact is Angus [Kinnear, Everton CEO]. Angus is the one who I would go to see. Rishi [Majithia, TFG representative] is the next one and then the head of the Friedkin family in America. I don’t really get any direct conversations with them, but I do through Rishi, he is the one I would speak to.”
Moyes is in the final year of his contract and admitted last week that talks over him signing a new deal have hit "a bit of a lull" amid TFG's decision to put the club up for sale.
But, for Limpar, the Glaswegian still remains the man for the job. He said: “For me, David Moyes is the perfect manager for Everton. He knows the club very well and he is the main guy for Everton. He is the best possible manager the club can have.
“He is my number one guy and I trust him so much. Over the last couple of years Everton have developed from being a team battling against relegation to now being a mid-table team.
“If we had decent owners, I am sorry to say, we could buy a couple of new players, so we can compete for the top five spots. So, at the moment we are very excited to see that a new owner will buy Everton.”
Need for a No.9 and full-back
Lifelong Evertonian Limpar, speaking exclusively to the ECHO via PariuriX.com, continued: “We have an overall good team, 85% of our team is great, but we still need a good No.9 and a full-back, then we can compete for European spots.
“I hope we can already have a new owner by January, so we can buy some players to strengthen the team. It seems Moyes couldn't buy any of his targets because he didn’t get the backing he wanted.
“Christian Norgaard only just got his debut but when he is fully fit, he will be the engine of the team. He is going to run the show for Everton.”
Norgaard returns to his former club Arsenal on Saturday when the Blues make the trip to the Emirates to take on the defending Premier League champions.
