New Everton owners ‘could hire’ Southgate as Dyche sack pressure mounts

Everton’s new owners will consider appointing former England manager Gareth Southgate if they sack Sean Dyche, according to reports.

Dyche is under pressure with Everton winless in their opening five Premier League matches this term.

The Toffees earned their first point of the season at Leicester on Saturday but threw away a lead for the third week in a row .

There was some rare good news for Everton and their fans on Monday following reports that AS Roma owner and US billionaire Dan Friedkin is close to buying the club from Farhad Moshiri.

The Friedkin Group had entered a period of exclusivity to negotiate a possible purchase in June, before Everton said in July that no deal would be struck between the parties.

John Textor, who has a 45 per cent share in Crystal Palace, had then appeared to be in the frame, but a statement from Everton on Monday read: “Blue Heaven Holdings and The Friedkin Group confirm that they have reached agreement over the terms of the sale of Blue Heaven Holdings’ majority stake in Everton Football Club.

“The transaction is subject to regulatory approval, including from the Premier League, the Football Association, and the Financial Conduct Authority.”

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A spokesperson for The Friedkin Group said: “We are pleased to have reached an agreement to become custodians of this iconic football club.

“We are focused on securing the necessary approvals to complete the transaction. We look forward to providing stability to the club, and sharing our vision for its future, including the completion of the new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.”

The Friedkin Group, holder of a controlling stake in Serie A side Roma, have been a lender to Everton, with an injection of £200million triggering its exclusivity period in the summer.

Prior to that, a deal for Miami-based firm 777 Partners to take over the Toffees had been agreed in September 2023 before collapsing in May.

The club’s new owners could be forced into a very important move early on in their tenure if Dyche doesn’t turn the club’s form around.

Southgate in, Dyche out at Everton?

According to Ben Jacobs ( via talkSPORT ), ‘Freidkin could look to hire Gareth Southgate to replace Sean Dyche as Toffees manager’.

Southgate is available after leaving England following their European Championship final defeat to Spain.

The former Middlesbrough boss led the country to back-to-back European finals and the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2018, but he was criticised in some quarters for his defensive tactics.

“I think it was probably the right time for change,” he said.

“I don’t think you can have regrets. We made decisions with the information we had at the time to try and produce a winning team.

“We raised expectations and that was important. We needed to put English football back on the map.”

Southgate’s first managerial job was with Middlesbrough before three years as England Under-21 manager and eight in charge of the Three Lions.

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