The Sportsman yesterday reported that Everton majority owner Farhad Moshiri attended his first general meeting since increasing his stake in the club in November to address shareholders at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.
The conversation inevitably turned to Everton’s drastic downturn in form in recent weeks which has procured just one win in eight league fixtures and seen the Toffees sliding down to the bottom half of the Premier League table.
Those fans wanting some stellar January signings - despite the £300million plus outlay in recent seasons - will have been left disappointed with the British-Iranian’s comments at the meeting, which were supported by the Blues’ director of football Marcel Brands.
"Financing is not everything. I have thrown £250m to turn a museum into a competitive outfit,” Moshiri said.
“You just have to get it right, throwing money is not the answer.”
Describing the previous era pre-Moshiri as a ‘museum’ may not sit well with a great deal of Everton fans, but supporters cannot say he hasn’t so far put his money where his mouth is; all but one of Everton’s 12 most expensive purchases have come from Moshiri’s pocket, with the £45million Gylfi Sigurdsson topping the list. He is also planning on ‘injecting’ money into Everton’s new £500m Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium.
"The transfer window is open, we know that, but we don't have big plans to be honest because it is a very difficult period to bring players in,"
Brands concurred at Everton's General Meeting (The Liverpool Echo).
"They have no time to adapt, the games go on and on. Most of the time to aren't able to bring in the best players and we don't want to let our best players go.
"So it is difficult so if there is something necessary to do (we will) but I am more focused on the summer than on the January window.”
So it seems time and patience is on the agenda, more so than shelling out shedloads to bolster manager Marco Silva’s options.
Moshiri currently owns 68.6% of Everton, potentially rising to 77.2% by July. The Toffees are currently 11th in the Premier League table, and next have a crunch match at Goodison Park will fellow strugglers Bournemouth on January 13th.
Could he be the man to take the club back to the top of English football?
#EFC
