It was definitely Textor day on Wednesday. The shareholder and president of Olympique Lyonnais gave a press conference in Lyon for over an hour to discuss the many hot topics. But we discovered this Thursday that he also gave a long interview to Skysportsto talk this time about his ambition to buy Everton. If he didn’t convince the Lyon fans yesterday at the Groupama OL Training Center, what will happen to the Toffees fans? In any case, he proclaimed his love for the English club.
Textor declares his love for Everton
“Nobody wakes up and thinks, ‘I’m going to buy Everton’. But if you decide that football is what you want in your life, and someone comes along and asks you if you want to own Everton, it’s like someone asking you if you want to be president of the United States. Of course you want to.”he thus launched. Yesterday, on the Lyon side, Textor assured that this purchase would not impact OL.
“The potential acquisition of Everton would come from my own funding and the deal that is being discussed, it would be me who would be the buyer and not Eagle Football. The buyer of Everton would be John Textor. I would be the investor. A new holding company would be created. There would be no impact on OL Group. The acquisition would be done with equity if it goes well. There is a 90% chance of reaching an agreement, but the current owner of Everton has a lot of choice.”he explained to his audience.
Already looking towards the transfer window
But let’s get back to John Textor’s English explanations. He rolled out his action plan, with the clear ambition of looking towards the top of the table, even though Everton has struggled to avoid going down in recent seasons, with the added inconveniences of English financial fair play (PSR), which has cost penalty points. “When you’re in a situation like Everton, I think we’re capable of growing a club and increasing its profitability at the same time. The two don’t usually go hand in hand, but I can handle a certain level of PSR risk… at this stage I don’t really know the risk.”explained Textor, who is already preparing himself for criticism after what he experienced in Brazil and Lyon.
“I know that if I become the owner of Everton, some people will think that I make decisions that seem stupid, and people will say that I don’t know football and that I can’t cope. I will be laughed at and not trusted. (…) But you have to be ready for the next transfer window because it is an opportunity to make a leap up the table and my challenge is to make sure I get there early enough to manage that.”he announced. The seduction operation is launched!
