Sean Dyche has addressed the potential takeover of Everton by John Textor following a club statement issued just before his press conference ahead of their match against Aston Villa this weekend.
The American businessman has been granted exclusivity to pursue the purchase of Farhad Moshiri’s 94.1% stake in the club.
While Textor is hopeful of completing the deal before the November 30 deadline, he first needs to sell his 45% stake in Crystal Palace, as required by Premier League regulations.
A statement from interim CEO Colin Chong has tempered expectations surrounding the takeover, urging patience and clarifying that updates will only come through official channels.
During the press conference, Dyche, who has experience dealing with takeover situations, fielded questions about Textor’s bid and the club’s statement.
Although he remained reserved, he emphasized that resolving the situation would benefit everyone involved.
“I don’t know about the resolution, that’s for upstairs, the financial side of the club,” Dyche said ahead of Everton’s trip to Aston Villa.
Dyche acknowledged that it’s normal for a prospective owner to ask questions about the club, saying, “If you are a prospective owner and you are going to comment, then you are going to ask certain questions.
Finding out what you’re potentially going to buy or getting a feel for the situation.”
Regarding whether he had spoken to Textor, Dyche clarified, “I haven’t had the chance [to speak to John Textor]—I don’t think the deal is in that position.
If you’re a prospective owner of a club, then you will want to build a relationship with the manager.
Of course, if he did take over, I think you would have that conversation. That’s standard practice.”
Textor, speaking in a recent interview with Sky Sports, expressed optimism about meeting the November 30 deadline, indicating there was already significant interest in his Crystal Palace stake.
“We have 14 groups interested in Palace who are very qualified, and we have five that went to the next level, and now we have two who have made good bids, while there’s also the possibility that our partners might still want it as they love the club as much as I do,” said Textor.
He added, “We’re into the final week or two of knowing who the buyer will be.
The contract I have with Farhad gives us a lot of time for that, as November 30 is our deadline to make sure we can complete it.”
The club’s full statement reads: “The club is aware of the comments made by John Textor in relation to a potential purchase.
While positive conversations and progress continue with Mr.
Textor to formalize any deal, there remains work to be done to complete the transaction.
“The comments made by Mr. Textor reflect his personal view on club matters.
Everyone at the club remains focused on supporting Sean Dyche and the squad as we head into the weekend’s fixture.
The club will provide updates regarding new investment when there is material news to communicate to supporters and stakeholders, and this will be done through official club channels.”
This cautious approach indicates that while discussions are ongoing, the club is keen to manage expectations until more concrete progress is made.
