John Textor tried to buy Queens Park Rangers during the summer after he had already linked himself to an Everton takeover, according to The Athletic.
Matt Slater reported via the outlet’s website on 13 September that the American spoke to the West London side about becoming the English club at the heart of his Eagle Football holdings only two months ago.
Textor made a sales pitch to QPR’s owners involving him acquiring their shares at Loftus Road in return for shares in Eagle Football after it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, but the conversation didn’t progress as both sides were “miles apart” on their valuations.
Textor has this week been publicly discussing his plans to buy the Toffees from Farhad Moshiri, likening Everton ownership to living in the White House [Sky Sports, 12 September].
Everton takeover impossible amid Crystal Palace block
Textor appears to be saying a lot of the right things when it comes to his proposed Everton takeover but his actions don’t necessarily seem to match up.
He is already faced with a huge hurdle with his 45 per cent share of Crystal Palace surely preventing him from gaining Premier League approval for a Toffees buyout, as well as stopping him from getting a full view of the finances at Goodison Park while he is so attached to a rival club.
The Lyon and Botafogo owner confirmed he has a pair of strong bids for his Palace shares, backing up a 26 August report from Sky News, and if he completes a sale there it would be a major step forwards at Everton.
But he also announced last month (22 August) that he had made an offer to instead buy out his co-owners, and if a month before that he was sniffing around QPR it is no wonder some close to the process apparently don’t see him as a serious buyer [Paul Brown, 29 August].
He might be, and his unconventional way of going about things may simply make him hard to assess in comparison to the usual silence from those involved in such deals.
His willingness to discuss his plans is probably a positive on balance, but until concrete developments match up with his claims it will leave observers bewildered.
And while he may well hold the Toffees in high regard it certainly suggests he might be just as satisfied to gain full control somewhere else as well.
He may argue that he never made a secret of his initial interest in multiple clubs when links to Everton first emerged [The Athletic, 24 May].
But having come forward after 777 Partners’ bid finally failed in June, then again once Dan Friedkin pulled out in July, while trying to takeover at Palace and QPR in the months since, it is bound to lead to scepticism about how committed he is on Merseyside if another opportunity should arise.
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