'Make us best club in the world' - Neville Southall makes bold Everton demand and makes Aston Villa comparison
Everton takeover news: The former goalkeeper gave his view on the club’s current takeover news involving the Friedkin Group.
Former Everton keeper Neville Southall has warned Dan Friedkin to match the club’s ambition ahead of his proposed takeover of the club
Everton may have finally agreed an end to their takeover saga as the American businessman, who also owns Roma, has agreed a deal to purchase Farhad Moshiri’s 94.1% stake. The deal now needs to wait for Premier League approval which could take up to two months.
Fans are overjoyed at the news but will be wary of history repeating itself. Moshiri arrived at the club in 2016 with promises of helping to drive the club forward with financial backing but they ended up spending over £500m on players just for the club to go backwards - and Southall has echoed such worries.
Speaking to the Liverpool ECHO, Southall delivered a blunt message to the group ahead of the proposed takeover. “It's the best club in the world, we just need people to come in who match that ambition & improve the team. Since we made that decision that finishing 10th was ok, the club has gone downhill from there. The ambition went & it has never come back.
“We need to make sure that the ambition comes back & we actually live up to our mantra. Whoever takes over must have the ambition to deliver and make us the best club in the world - and if it's not, then it's the wrong person to come in.”
Having battled relegation for three consecutive seasons, the focus will be to thrust the club back into top-half and European contention and the stature of Everton is certainly ripe for doing just that. Take a club like Aston Villa, for example. They were in the Championship as recently as the 2018/19 season and they finished in the top four last season and achieved European football a year prior.
While nothing is built overnight, across a few seasons they can build their side and move forward with a new era in their new stadium. Meaning that two or three years down the line, we could see an entirely different squad, manager and club.