- The Friedkin Group completed a 98.8 per cent takeover of Everton on Thursday
Former Everton captain Phil Jagielka has welcomed the Friedkin Group’s takeover of the club, believing that this will be beneficial to the squad moving forward.
It was announced on Thursday that the Friedkin Group had purchased a 98.8 per cent stake in the Merseyside outfit, marking the end of a turbulent period of ownership under Farhad Moshiri.
Twice the Toffees have been slapped with sanctions in conjunction with the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) in the last 13 months, and had eight points in total deducted last season.
American billionaire Dan Friedkin is proposed to be chairman of the club’s board, and has appointed Marc Watts as the club’s new executive chairman.
The Friedkin Group has promised ‘thoughtful and strategic investment’ to strengthen the first team as one of its key priorities, as well as maximising the commercial value of the club’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, which they are due to move into in time for next season.
And it is the impact of the takeover on the first-team where Jagielka – who recently attended a Nemiroff ‘That’s My Spirit’ event – feels will be most keenly felt.
Everton’s takeover ‘will have a massive impact’ on the squad, believes ex-captain Phil Jagielka
The Friedkin Group, led by Dan Friedkin, have been confirmed as Everton’s new owners (Roma president Dan Friedkin pictured)
The takeover will usher in a new era at Everton following Farhad Moshiri’s disastrous spell
As well as manager Sean Dyche and director of football Kevin Thelwell, nine players are currently due to be out of contract this summer – including captain Seamus Coleman, midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure and striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin. In addition, four loan signings in Oriel Mangala, Jack Harrison, Armando Broja and Jesper Lindstrom are due to return to their parent clubs, although Everton have options to buy the latter duo.
And with so much uncertainty within the squad’s future, Jagielka hopes this can now be resolved and plans can be in place for players following the takeover’s completion.
‘What’s happening off the field will have had a massive impact in the changing room,’ the 42-year-old told the Liverpool Echo prior to the takeover.
‘I’m not particularly saying on the pitch, but I think I’m right in saying half the squad at least is either on loan or coming up to having their contracts renewed.
‘You’ll have players who want to stay but aren’t allowed to stay yet or can’t get the deal they potentially want, and then the club can use that (the takeover situation) for the players they don’t want to potentially keep, so there’s so many bits and bobs that can be factored in when the ownership hasn’t been sorted out.
‘We can hopefully secure the players we want to keep, give a straight-up answer to the players who potentially won’t be here next season, and hopefully get a chance to go and strengthen in January. That would be the perfect scenario for the club.’
Jagielka, who spent 12 years at Goodison Park – with the latter six as captain – is still involved with Everton. Earlier this month, he represented the Toffees at London’s Tate Modern following their announcement with alcohol spirit Nemiroff Vodka.
The Ukrainian-based drink brought together its four Premier League partner clubs – Aston Villa, Fulham, West Ham United as well as Everton to launch its ‘That’s My Spirit’ campaign.
Jagielka represented the Toffees at London’s Tate Modern following their announcement with alcohol spirit Nemiroff Vodka for their ‘That’s My Spirit’ campaign earlier this month
Using a play on words of the campaign, Jagielka was asked how does he hope his spirit inspires the current crop of Everton players and the subsequent generations that follow.
‘You try and leave some sort of legacy behind. When I was captain of Everton I passed on the baton to Seamus Coleman and we’ve seen what a fantastic job he is doing.
‘He is then going to pass the baton on to the next generation and you hope whatever you have done knocks down decade-by-decade and hopefully in 20-30 years time they’ll still be talking about me as a captain and Seamus too.
‘If so then we’ve done our job.’
