Talking the Blues podcast host ‘Paul The Esk’ has been discussing Farhad Moshiri’s ownership of Merseyside outfit Everton.
In February 2016, it was revealed that the Iranian businessman had purchased a 49.9% stake in the Toffees after selling his stake in Arsenal to Alisher Usmanov (per BBC).
In September 2018, it was then stated that Moshiri had taken his ownership of the club to 68.6% with the intention of that increasing to 77.2% no later than July 2019 (per BBC).
Under the ownership of the Iranian businessman, Everton have finished no higher than seventh in the Premier League and the 2019/20 season saw them record their worst finishing position since the 2003/04 season as they finished 12th (per Transfermarkt).
So, in the latest episode of the Talking the Blues podcast, the host discussed Moshiri’s ownership of the Toffees.
He said: “I take my hat off entirely to Moshiri in terms of his financial commitment to the club.
“If I sat in front of him, I would very much question how we got to the position that he has needed to fund the club to the extent that he has, and why he hasn’t made the changes that were necessary in order to stop those losses which would’ve reduced the amount of money that he’s had to put into the club.
“I think that’s a question that anybody who gets in front of Moshiri should ask – but his financial commitment is there.
“The question is, at what point does he say, ‘I’m sorry guys, but I cannot continue to fund it like this anymore. No matter whether I’m a 1, 2, 2.5 billion net worth guy’?
“[He’s put in] £350m to the last accounts, certain to have put in more since, based on what our activity is likely to be, certain to put more in again when the stadium comes along. So, he’s in for a minimum of half a billion pounds.”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what the podcast host had to say, he clearly has some concerns over how much longer Moshiri can fund Everton as he has been doing.
However, he also questions why that has had to be the case in the first place.
Would you say Farhad Moshiri has been a good owner of Everton?
No, he's run us poorly
Yes, he's been unfortunate
Certainly, since Moshiri took over, the performances in the league have not seen a major upturn from prior to the Iranian businessman’s arrival (per Transfermarkt).
Furthermore, following the announcement in January regarding record losses of £111.8m (per BBC), it does seem that questions need to be asked as the podcast host suggested.