The American billionaire was open in his interest to buy Everton, but is currently dealing with huge financial problems at Lyon
John Textor has insisted “there is no chance” Lyon will be relegated after the club was hit with stringent penalties over financial concerns.
The US businessman – who earlier this year tried to add Everton to his portfolio of clubs – came out fighting after French football authorities handed Lyon a provisional relegation and transfer ban amid concerns over its accounts. The Ligue 1 side has debts of more than £400m.
In a press conference organised as a retort to the punishment, Textor said on Saturday: “We will not be relegated, there is no chance. I know that our situation makes some sceptics. I prefer the Premier League system which punishes clubs differently. We have resources that go well beyond the club. Even if we fail on all our global initiatives, of €700 million, our owners will not let the group sink. There is no chance of being relegated.”
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Textor’s confidence appears to come from a belief the DNCG, the financial watchdog for professional clubs in France, has wrongly focused on the accounts of Lyon and not on the wider picture of his Eagle Football Holdings, through which he controls his stakes in other clubs such as Brazilian side Botafogo and the 45% stake he has in Crystal Palace.
He said: “At the DNCG, there are intelligent people but they work in a system and do not want to look at the global scale of what we do. The DNCG has to digest a lot of figures in a very short time. We are a large organisation, and it is important to realise that all our clubs contribute. Our services collaborate, our financial services collaborate.”
Textor had embarked on a public pursuit of Everton, launched at the end of last season and which kicked into gear after The Friedkin Group pulled out of talks with Blues owner Farhad Moshiri in July. Textor recently claimed he was within 24 hours of a deal when The Friedkin Group resurfaced and agreed a deal with Moshiri. Textor’s Everton ambitions were always limited while he had a stake in Palace, however.
