Everton owner Farhad Moshiri remains persona non grata on the blue half of Merseyside during the current 2022-23 Premier League season as the storied English club sit 18th in the table and in their second relegation battle in as many seasons.
Moshiri first arrived in the northwest of England in February 2016 after he sold his stakes in Premier League giants Arsenal before acquiring a 49.9% ownership stake in the Goodison Park outfit, with the Iranian-born businessman and chairman of Russian holding company USM upping his controlling shares in the club to 94% almost one year ago to the day.
Despite his heavy investment in the club across the last seven seasons including the current campaign, Everton has rapidly regressed from a club that once was in the thick of the fight for European places on the back of nine top-seven finishes in twelve seasons from 2004-2016. Regardless of the £700m the club has spent in the transfer market since his arrival, and its plans to continue to improve Finch Farm as well as move into a glamorous new ground at Bramley-Moore Dock (which is now under construction), the situation in the league is precarious at best.
Farhad Moshiri’s letter to the Everton Fans’ Forum #EFC pic.twitter.com/IpJULhoOX1
— 𝐓𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐄 𝐓𝐕 (@ToffeeTVEFC) January 11, 2023
With that knowledge and regular backlash from all quarters of a devoted fanbase, Moshiri penned an open letter to the club’s supporters while trying to remain faithful in the process as well as detailing his commitment to the club, the fans, and the project at hand.
Many fans rebuffed Moshiri’s words on social media on the back of a myriad of continuous concerns, most notably the board’s inability to manage the club’s financial picture, while the excessive amount of money spent on transfers hardly doing its due diligence to arrest the club’s position in the table on the back of a handful of questionable managerial appointments while Chelsea legend Frank Lampard unjustifiably remains in the Goodison Park technical area.
With other clubs across the league coming under heavy fan scrutiny in the past which has led to protests for change, should the situation on Merseyside not improve – particularly if the club fails to avoid the drop – sentiments around the club could reach the point of no return.
📰 Table Of Contents