Farhad Moshiri is planning to hand the new Everton manager a long-term deal and a transfer kitty to match the Manchester clubs and Chelsea, according to Sky Sports.
The broadcaster claim on their website that the Merseyside club’s majority shareholder Moshiri wants to give the vacant post to a big name and back him with massive funds for new players.
Sky Sports report that the owner’s top target is Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone, who has achieving unprecedented success during six years at the helm of the Spanish club.
It is said that Moshiri will meet fellow board members before the weekend and is willing “to back a new long-term manager, with funding to match some of the biggest in the Premier League”.
This comes after reports elsewhere that Sam Allardyce was close to being appointed on a short-term deal that runs only until the end of the season.
Simeone has been at the helm of Atletico since 2011, and oversaw one of the biggest shocks in recent European football history as he led the club to the La Liga title in 2013-14.
The Argentine has also guided the Spanish club to two Champions League finals, although they lost both times to rivals Real, in 2013-14 and 2015-16.
OPINION
Moshiri is nothing if not ambitious. Talk of Everton offering the new manager a kitty that would match the biggest in the Premier League is jaw-dropping stuff. The Merseysiders spent big in the summer, with £145million outlaid on new players, but it was a sum that was exceeded by three clubs, Manchester City (£220.5million), Chelsea (£187.5million) and Manchester United (£161million). News that Everton are planning another massive transfer market assault is likely to send their fans into meltdown after such a wretched start to the season has left the club in the grip of a relegation battle.