New Everton prospective owners The Friedkin Group are facing pressure at AS Roma..
Everton’s prospective owners The Friedkin Group are reportedly considering a shock U-turn – at AS Roma.
TFG hope to wrap up their purchase of the Toffees from majority owner Farhad Moshiri by the end of the year. The American firm, headed by Dan Friedkin, agreed to buy Moshiri’s 94.1 per cent stake last month.
Should the takeover be ratified, Everton will become the second major European club under TFG’s control. They have owned AS Roma since August 2020, with the Serie A side winning the European Conference League in their first season and reaching the Europa League semi-finals last term.
But TFG have faced backlash from Roma supporters of late after they made the controversial decision to sack Stadio Olimpico legend Daniele de Rossi as head coach just four games into the campaign. De Rossi, arguably the second-greatest player in I Giallorossi history behind Francesco Totti, had signed a new three-year deal in the summer but was replaced by Ivan Juric until the end of the season.
Fans in the Italian capital have protested against TFG, with supporter group Curva Sud unfurling two banners before and during Sunday’s 1-0 loss against Inter Milan. In addition, they did not enter the stadium until 15 minutes into the encounter.
And according to Italian press agency Adnkronos (via Planet Roma), TFG are weighing up whether to reinstall De Rossi in the hot seat amid a ‘new crisis’. It is reported that Friedkin could bring back De Rossi alongside a new CEO after Lina Souloukou stepped down in the aftermath of De Rossi’s departure.
It is suggested that the return of De Rossi would be a ‘relaunch of the Friedkin’s commitment and the substantial admission of the error committed in the management that led first to the removal of the ownership and then to the sacrifice of De Rossi’.
However, before the Inter loss, Roma sporting director Florent Ghisolfi gave his support for Juric, who has won two of his six games so far. “Juric arrived in a very difficult context, but he must be given time to do his work. The next seven games before the break will be important to understand how things are going,” Ghisolfi told DAZN (via Football Italia).
It is true that we invested heavily on the transfer market, but we also lowered the salary bill, we lowered the average age of the squad and this is a process we have only just begun. In comparison, Inter are a long way along in their project, but with them too it took time to see the results of that process. Naturally, playing in a warm atmosphere with our fans is special for us. We want to earn back their affection, we must work hard, sacrifice ourselves on the pitch, defend our values and give our best.
