Everton are set to move into their new stadium at the start of the 2025-26 season.
Prospective Everton owner John Textor has insisted the club’s new stadium is not a pivotal reason behind his takeover.
Textor has been granted exclusivity to complete a purchase from Toffees majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri. The American is hopeful of completing a deal by 30 November but will first have to sell his 45% stake in Crystal Palace because of Premier League rules.
Sign up to our Everton FC newsletter
Sign up
Thank you for signing up!
Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to LiverpoolWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
Submitting...
Everton are in a difficult financial situation, having lost almost £400 million in the past four years while more than £600 million in debt is owed to 777 Partners/ A-Cap, the Freidkin Group - both of whom saw prospective takeovers collapse earlier this year - and Rights & Media Funding. But the Toffees’ new state-of-the-art stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock is set to increase the club’s avenue significantly when it opens at the start of the 2025-26 season.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Textor admitted he prefers old stadiums such as Goodison Park and Palace’s Selhurst Park - and dislikes Tottenham Hotspur’s cutting-edge ground that opened in 2019. But he’s wary that Everton’s 52,888-seat stadium on the Liverpool waterfront will be crucial as he wants the Blues to again be challenging for major trophies.
Textor said: "Not for me... I don't like Tottenham. I go into that stadium, and I think it's too nice. I remember the first couple of games I went there and the people I was with were in this banquet hall, and I thought: ‘This isn't football' and I really believe that.
"It's way too nice a stadium for football. I remember as an owner of Crystal Palace watching them have one of the best games they've had in a long time under Patrick Vieira against Everton. We were 2-0 up but then Everton came out and turned it around.
"People were running all over the stadium and I was sat just above the dugout. I was thinking, 'what a weird stadium, what a weird layout... but what a beautiful stadium'. It's like going to Fenway Park where you have a big pole in front of you. You can't see the field but it's what's beautiful about it.
"For me, I would still be interested in Everton if they were playing on a pitch next to Goodison Park. I would stay at Goodison forever, but investors are clearly supportive because when we talk about the capital that I have to buy the club, I do believe I can take this squad well beyond its current level of competitiveness alone.
"But let's face it, we don't want Everton to be bouncing around eighth place forever. We want to win a title, and so to do that you need serious capital. I've always been very good at accessing it in my life, and so the stadium is huge in that respect.
"The fact that somebody else paid for this incredible place, with these luxury suites and glass VIP rooms, that kind of stuff is amazing from a capital perspective. But from the fans' perspective, it's important to them it's important to me."