John Textor said a controversial interview with Sky in which he discussed how he would run Everton was only given because he genuinely believed the club was about to be his
John Textor has been speaking about how close he came to taking over Everton(Image: Alex Pantling – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
John Textor has labelled a controversial interview in which he discussed his Everton transfer strategy as “stupid”. The billionaire discussed the future of Sean Dyche, decision to sign Jake O’Brien and merits of the new stadium in a sweeping chat amid his efforts to buy the club from former owner Farhad Moshiri.
His comments led to the Blues delaying a pre-match press conference and then-interim CEO Colin Chong issuing a terse public statement to address them.
Reflecting on that conversation with Sky Sports back in September, Textor said he embarked on it because he genuinely believed he was about to become the club’s new owner. He claimed he was days from completing a deal only to be told he had lost out to The Friedkin Group (TFG) as he was waiting to find out where to send his money.
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Textor first expressed an interest in Everton following the collapse of the takeover by troubled US group 777 Partners in May of last year. At the time, given he owned a stake in Crystal Palace that prevented him from running another Premier League club, his words appeared fanciful.
That was still the case when, later that summer, he emerged as a leading contender after the first period of exclusivity between the Blues and TFG came crashing down.
Despite that, fuelled by the insistence he had serious bidders vying for his share of Palace, talks appeared to progress with Moshiri.
They reached a point whereby in September, on the eve of the trip to Aston Villa, Textor gave a lengthy interview in which he walked viewers through his plan for the Blues.
On the future of Dyche, Textor, whose Eagle Football group also had shares in the likes of Lyon and Botafogo, said: “I don’t know Sean personally but I watched him for so many years at Burnley doing wonders with no budget and so obviously he’s a guy who knows how to coach in the Premier League. I’d sit down with him at some point in the future and say that I’m going to bring him a very different profile of player from any corner of the world and ask him if he is interested. I’d ask him if he could coach this squad.
“I like that he has bought the big, tough Irish kid Jake O’Brien but does he like [Botafogo forwards] Igor Jesus or Luis Henrique? Does he have an ambition to coach that sort of profile?”
The words led to Chong issuing a club statement backing Dyche and adding: “There remains some work to be done to complete the transaction.”
Textor reflected on his interview on Talksport on Thursday, insisting: “I didn’t do that stupid interview on Sky News on a whim.”
The businessman, who is seeking an exit from Palace amid questions over whether the club can appear alongside Lyon in European competition next season, added: “The owner of Everton at the time called me and said John, the fans really need to understand your strategy… that was like the dumbest interview you could possibly give if you didn’t know you were absolutely going to be the owner of the squad. So I absolutely knew we were going to be the owner of the squad.”
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Textor then claimed that, unbeknownst to him, there was more than one outfit in talks to buy Everton and that he only found out when he was told his deal was off. He claimed: “I get one of those calls, I think it was a Friday, we were waiting on wiring instructions and we didn’t understand why they weren’t coming.
“Everything was done, completely done and then I get a call over the weekend from one of the owners who said we decided to go another direction. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it. You literally asked me to roll out and lay out the strategy. Why am I talking about coaching decisions at Everton if I wasn’t already the owner?”