As Dan Friedkin plots his proposed takeover, Everton have a major advantage over Roma, the club he already owns, when it comes to the building of a new stadium

Dan Friedkin’s proposed takeover of Everton has a major advantage over his existing foray into European football ownership at Roma when it comes to the club’s stadium issue.

With Everton released from the grip of 777 Partners at the end of May after their Share Purchase Agreement expired some eight-and-a-half months on from wantaway majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri striking a deal to sell his entire 94.1% stake to the controversial Miami-based private investment firm, a number of interested parties stepped forward to offer varying takeover bids. The Friedkin Group won that battle and became the fourth potential buyer in the past couple of years to enter into a period of exclusivity with Moshiri.

ECHO business of football writer Dave Powell reported last week that the takeover “still has a significant amount of road to travel.” He added: “It is not a deal that is cut and dried, with it only progressing if the Friedkin Group are satisfied after reviewing all aspects of the business,” and while “the goal remains to strike a deal”, “nothing is imminent, and the process won’t be hurried along.”

However, one area where Everton are in a significantly stronger position than the team already owned by Friedkin, currently ranked number 271 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world’s richest people, and is calculated as having a net worth of $9.2billion (approximately £7.27billion), is with their stadium. Construction on the Blues’ new 52,888 capacity stadium on the banks of the Mersey is expected to be completed by the end of this calendar year with the first team moving in at the start of the 2025/26 season after 133 years playing at Goodison Park.