Dan Friedkin makes three new demands that provides Everton transfer plans hint ahead of takeover

All eyes are on when there will be official confirmation that Dan Friedkin has earned exclusivity to complete an Everton takeover.

Certainly, supporters will be hoping that the purchase of Farhad Moshiri’s 94% majority takeover is a smooth transaction. That was far from the case after Moshiri agreed to sell the club to 777 Partners. After eight months of the Miami-based firm failing to be given the green light by the Premier League, the plug was pulled at the end of last month.

Several parties subsequently came to the table - but Friedkin was selected. The American appears to be as legitimate as they come. He’s a highly-renowned businessman across the Atlantic and is a multi-billionaire.

Moreover, his company the Friedkin Group completed a takeover of Italian outfit AS Roma four years ago. Roma might not be the biggest power in Serie A - they’ve only won three league titles in their history - but they are a club that every football fan recognises. The Giallorossi constantly compete at the top of the table and that has been the case since Friedkin’s arrival.

Roma won their maiden European trophy when they lifted the Europa Conference League in the 2021-22 season. And in the 2023-24 campaign, they reached the Europa League semi-finals, only to be beaten by Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen, and finished sixth in the table.

The next challenge for Roma is to qualify for the Champions League. They haven’t been in Europe’s elite club competition for five years, having reached the semi-finals in 2017-18 only to be defeated by Liverpool. Plans are afoot for the 2024-25 campaign, according to reports in Italy, and Friedkin is taking a prominent role.

Corriere dello Sport (via Roma Press) reports that Freidkin recently jetted into Rome for talks with CEO Lina Souloukou, coach Daniele De Rossi and technical director Florent Ghisolfi to assess how they can make improvements.

Going forward, it has been suggested that Roma will now stop three things when it comes to transfers; stop loan players from coming in, as well as players over 30 and those on high wages,

Roma did all those things last summer when signing Romelu Lukaku for the season from Chelsea. The 31-year-old scored 21 goals in 47 appearances during loan at the Stadio Olimpico but the Giallorossi reportedly paid a £5 million loan fee and £6 million in wages. Roma also had Leeds United pair Diego Llorente and Rasmus Kristensen along with former Bayern Munich midfielder Renato Sanchez on temporary deals.

And perhaps it is a hint to how Friedkin will approach transfers at Everton. He will want to bring the Toffees success but in a sustainable manner. In fairness, it’s similar to the current policy Everton have practised given their recent financial issues.

In the past two years, director of football Kevin Thelwell has helped bring in Amadou Onana, James Garner, Dwight McNeil and Youssef Chermiti who all have their best years ahead of them. But Everton have added experience when bringing back Idrissa Gana Gueye from Paris Saint-Germain in 2022 while Ashley Young signed on a free transfer from Aston Villa. Conor Coady, Ruben Vinagre, Jack Harrison and Arnaut Danjuma have previously been recruited on loan deals.