Everton 'should be in the top six - I feel incredibly sorry for Farhad Moshiri'

Former Everton manager Sam Allardyce has claimed that he felt sorry for owner Farhad Moshiri after the club failed to move forward under his control.

Having arrived in 2016, he helped to bankroll over £500m worth of transfers only for the club to drop from competing in Europe to battling relegation across the past three seasons and he is set to hand the club over to the Friedkin Group in the next few months.

Financially, the club has been in turmoil for some time which has greatly affected their ability to work within the transfer market. For example, they made four loan signings this summer and they are currently set to lose up to seven players at the end of the season as contracts and loan deals end - but Allardyce has expressed his sympathy for the owner’s struggles.

“Everton are on the decline financially in terms of the spending power,” He told Betway. “Farhad Moshiri I feel incredibly sorry for, by the fact that there was so much money wasted at Everton. The club could or should have been in the top six. With that he has to take some blame himself, because he unfortunately listened to a lot of people and some of them weren't quite as good as others.

“He thought that they were honest and good for Everton Football Club and obviously in the end it wasn't, and I think that he's getting out now but his legacy is the new stadium that Everton fans must be really proud of, and that is the saving grace of Everton Football Club.

“And probably for him to recoup some of his money, because the amount of revenue that it's predicted that it'll turn over is – I'm being told, and I don't know whether this is actually true – in the region of £60-70million a year just in stadium revenue. That makes it incredibly attractive for somebody to come along, a brand new stadium, owned by you as an asset. Just develop a team, whoever gets the opportunity, so.”

There is hope that the new ownership can help transform their fortunes given that they took over at Roma in 2020 at a time of financial distress and helped to turn their fortunes around. However, once a takeover is completed, they will need to move quickly on a number of contracts and transfer decisions.