da bet sport： Finally it’s happened. Finally, after years of speculation and whispers of potential investment, Everton have a new backer. Iranian businessman Farhad Moshiri has just bought a 49.9% stake in the Merseyside club, a controlling stake in all but technicality.
da bwin： A new set of ears to take in the Z Cars theme every other week, some fresh money and ideas at a club that has been ripe for investment for years but has always puzzlingly been over-looked. Down in part to chairman Bill Kenwright’s insistence on selling to the right person, avoiding the pitfalls of questionable owners at the likes of Villa, Leeds and others, he has finally found the right man in Moshiri and the blue half of Liverpool can finally look forward to competing with the Premier League big-boys.
Well at least that’s the theory. The reported £200m deal that sees Moshiri become the club’s majority shareholder will certainly bring with it expectation, but does it guarantee success on the pitch? Of course, the plan will be to take Everton to the next level, but in an increasingly competitive Premier League landscape — even more so next season with the new TV money – new investment at Goodison will not automatically guarantee the club a pass to the big time.
Manager Roberto Martinez has welcomed both the new investment and the pressure.
“The chairman and myself will embrace that pressure”, remarked the Spaniard following the takeover, his job simultaneously made easier and harder by the investment. Martinez always stated his aim to get Everton in the Champions League during his time as Toffees boss and that dream is bought a step closer with this fresh injection of cash.
Martinez has already spent big on Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian striker bought in for £28m, James McCarthy and recent signing Oumar Niasse also arriving for eight-figure sums. The new investment makes it easier for more signings at this level to arrive on Merseyside and push Everton onwards and upwards, but it also increases the expectation level on both the club and the manager.
Only time will tell how Martinez copes with that added expectancy and how he deals with the opportunity to purchase players at a bigger level. The club and the manager must avoid the temptation to buy big for the sake of buying big, the possible acquisition of so-called ‘marquee’ players now at the clubs disposal. The Spanish manager has a good eye for a player, the likes of Gerard Deulofeu, Aaron Lennon and Muhamed Besic all bought in for around the $4m mark.
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The danger of new-found riches is that so-called ‘bigger names’ will be more attracted to joining a club like Everton, not necessarily for the right reasons. If Martinez can maintain his principles in both the transfer market and on the pitch, the players that could join up with the current squad may very well take them onto the next level, but only if handled in the right manner.
And it’s a squad that’s already in a good place, a wealth of talented youngsters amongst it’s ranks. The investment from Moshiri should make it easier to keep hold of those players too, the likes of Ross Barkley and John Stones sure to attract major interest in the summer. Everton have already shown good resolve in digging their feet in when it comes to offers for their players, Chelsea’s attempts to lure Stones away from the club proving fruitless in the end.
Extra money for new contracts and higher wages for their most prized assets will now be available, and this should bode well for the club in it’s ambitions of top-four challenges. Holding on to the England pair, along with the likes of Lukaku, Coleman and Deleufeu will be as important as any new additions if the club are to achieve the ambitions of the manager.
The new investment will no doubt be embraced by all connected to Everton, from fans to the staff. It opens up new avenues for the Goodison club but it should come with an air of caution and they must strike a fine balance between staying true to themselves and their principles whilst trying to moving the club forward.
A club the size of Everton should really have won something in the last 20 years and this investment may take them a step closer to doing so, but the process may not be as instant as some fans would hope or assume.
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