Everton up for sale again - so what next as owners TFG look for a way out?

When Everton's owners The Friedkin Group released a 170-word statement on Friday morning announcing they were effectively putting the club up for sale, it was as low-key and underwhelming as their tenure on Merseyside.

TFG, also owners of AS Roma in Italy's Serie A, paid more than £400m for a 99.5% share of Everton in December 2024, releasing the club from the financial crisis and toxicity that characterised the final days of Farhad Moshiri's chaotic regime.

It was meant to be the start of a bold new era for the club as they waited to move out of Goodison Park into a magnificent new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock.

Instead, TFG will now test the market, with football finance expert Kieran Maguire telling BBC Sport he expected them to seek a price between £750m and £800m for a complete sale, taking on current debts of around £468m.

In contrast to the high hopes and confidence that accompanied their arrival, TFG have effectively been absentee owners focusing their efforts on Roma - a stance illustrated by the fact chairman Dan Friedkin has never attended an Everton game or, even more startlingly, never spoken to manager David Moyes since he arrived back at the club in January 2025.

Moyes made that revelation in the aftermath of a botched summer transfer window that transformed the relationship between Everton's fans and TFG from cold acceptance to outright toxicity.

Everton owners consider selling club two years after takeover

Armstrong fiasco beginning of the end

The catalyst was TFG's attempt to sell teenager Harrison Armstrong, one of the finest products of Everton's Academy in recent years, to Nottingham Forest in a £40m deal.

The move was agreed by TFG until news leaked out, prompting loud threats of "a riot" from Everton fans during the game at Bournemouth later that day.

Such was the reaction, TFG went into damage limitation mode to block the deal for the 19-year-old midfielder, but it was little more than a face-saving PR exercise after a catastrophic decision that instantly alienated the fanbase.

Everton then sold Iliman Ndiaye to Manchester City for £65m and striker Beto - hardly elite but a recognised striker - to Fiorentina, before a move for Monaco forward Folarin Balogun collapsed with no time to seek alternatives.

It left Moyes a striker light and with only 18 senior outfield players. From that moment the credits were rolling for TFG, leading to the announcement they are looking to sell their stake in the club.

Why have TFG decided now is the time to sell?

Maguire said: "I think there are various factors at play. I suspect they were shocked by having to pay Burnley more than £35m for a breach of financial rules."

In 2024 Everton were found to have broken Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) over a three-year period. Burnley argued the breach had impacted their chances of staying in the Premier League in the 2021-22 season and sought compensation for the losses associated with being relegated.

TFG injected £38m into the club to cover the cost, while Everton have subsequently appealed.

"I think that perhaps they thought English football was going to become as litigious as trying to operate in the United States," added Maguire. "This will not have appealed to them.

"It is also a good time to sell because it is such a buoyant market. The Americans will be interested. There are only 20 Premier League clubs you can buy. There are lots of potential buyers out there. There is that scarcity factor.

"I'd say TFG will look for £750m to £800m to sell. It can take 5 billion dollars or even more to buy a sporting franchise in the United States.

"I think they can see this as something they can flip - in other words, buy low and sell high."

What TFG have brought to Everton is a measure of financial stability following Moshiri's era of crisis, which Maguire believes will make them an attractive proposition to potential suitors.

"Everton have history and heritage," he said. They are Premier League perennials. They look like they will stay there and they have a passionate fanbase who fill a superb 50,000-plus stadium.

"You are not having to spend money on an upgrade of that stadium. I have a lot of respect for the finance people at the club. Unlike some of the chaos of Moshiri and what he left behind, you can lift up the carpet now at Everton and nothing unpleasant will come out.

"To paraphrase a former Prime Minister, you have got an 'over ready' football club coming on to the market. If you are an owner who wants to accelerate things at a football club, you have a starting point for that.