Dan Friedkin's Everton CEO candidate has history of smashing transfer records as £21m PSR boost confirmed
Yesterday at 03:30 PM
At long last, salvation for Everton. Dan Friedkin is now officially the Toffees new owner and The Friedkin Group are working on fixes for the problems left behind by Farhad Moshiri.
The Moshiri era will be remembered in the short term for the Profit and Sustainability (PSR) issues and, latterly, cash flow flow issues that swamped the club, not to mention the relegation dogfights.
And with Sean Dyche’s side just three points above the Premier League relegation zone as things stand, the legacy of Moshiri’s impact on Everton’s football operation could yet still be felt for years to come.
What’s more, the looming PSR hearing into Everton’s capitalisation of interest payments on loans taken out to fund infrastructure costs could herald further PSR sanctions further down the line.
But by far the British-Iranian investor’s biggest contribution in L4 was his commitment to building the new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock.
The new home ground is expected to hike revenues by £30-40m per season and will outlast Dan Friedkin, Dyche, the Everton squad, and most other stakeholders on Merseyside.
Ensuring Premier survival and managing the transition to the club’s new waterfront home in 2025-26 are Friedkin’s A1 priorities as custodian of, as he puts it, “one of England’s most historic clubs.”
In the immediate term, the Everton faithful’s attention has turned to what kind of owner Friedkin intends to be. For clues, they have looked to his ownership of AS Roman and, to a lesser extent, AS Cannes.
The Friedkin Group have been in situ at Roma for four years and, although he delivered the club’s first European trophy in the Conference League in 2022, things have soured of late.
The Hollywood financier turned multi-club investor has invoked the wrath of Roma’s famously impassioned fanbase when he sacked club legend Daniel De Rossi earlier this year.
De Rossi’s successor, Ivan Juric, was given the boot after 12 matches in charge. Now, Claudio Ranieri of Leicester City fame is in the dugout. He had to wait until last weekend for his first Serie A win in charge.
Friedkin has also shaken things up in the C-suite at Stadio Olimpico.
Lina Souloukou resigned as CEO in November, although the perception is that she was pushed.
She has since been linked with a Premier League move, with both Everton and Nottingham Forest linked.
Her replacement, albeit on an interim basis? Ryan Friedkin, Dan Friedkin’s son. And incidentally, the 34-year-old is also reportedly a candidate for a senior position at Everton.
Friedkin junior’s record at Roma and at AS Cannes, where he is president, suggests what he might bring to the Toffees if indeed he does join up with his father.
Ryan Friedkin: Everton’s new CEO?
Ryan Friedkin’s temporary tenure at Roma at such a turbulent time appears to be an endorsement of his capabilities on behalf of Dan Friedkin.
Friedkin was part of the team that sanctioned a net outlay of £100m in 2021-22 of around £100m, which was comfortably a record for the Italian club.
Financial constraints have meant Roma have had to cut their cloth in more recent seasons, although they did spend around £75m in the summer and ended the window with a negative net of £54m.
Given their easing but still precarious PSR situation, Everton won’t be able to brake any of the transfer records set in the Moshiri era for some time.
But the ambition The Friedkin Group have displayed at Roma, even if it has not always had the most positive return, is encouraging for Everton fans eager to see their club compete in the transfer market once again.
There is a similar story at AS Cannes under Ryan Friedkin’s stewardship.
They have the biggest budget in the French fourth tier – and by quite a margin.
An anonymous source has told The Athletic their budget for 2024-25 is £5m, almost twice the next club in the pecking order.
That is effectively a Ligue 2, the source said.
£21m soft-loans issue resolved but PSR questions remain
The structure of The Friedkin Group’s takeover has seen £451m worth of soft loans (interest-free loans from shareholders) converted into equity.
This is significant because new Premier League rules stipulate that soft loans must now include a commercial interest rate for PSR purposes.
Had the soft loans – which were comfortably the highest in the Premier League – not been converted, Everton would have been hit with a proxy PSR charge of around £21m.
Their heavy losses in recent years mean that there will not be fireworks in the January transfer window in any case, but the situation would have been far more restrictive had it not been for the equity conversion.
