The Everton and Manchester City club crests on their first team home shirts on May 14, 2020 in Manchester, England.Photo by Visionhaus
Everton and Man City set to benefit as £257m deal struck with UEFA until 2033
Man City and Everton will extend their strategic advantage on the European stage through a landmark UEFA agreement, partly spearheaded by Ferran Soriano and Dan Friedkin.
Friedkin is set to become Everton’s new owner after agreeing terms with Farhad Moshiri, but the American billionaire is already a major stakeholder in football thanks to his ownership of AS Roma.
CEO at the Etihad since 2012, Sorriano currently his hands full with Man City‘s legal fight against the Premier League on several fronts, but he remains on of the most influential men in football.
Premier League branding is seen with the League’s logo during the Premier League match between Everton FC and Brentford FC at Goodison Park on Marc…
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
The Catalonian has masterminded the appointment of City’s new sporting director Hugo Viana, who will replace Txiki Begiristain next summer.
Everton and City have proven unlikely allies in recent months, forming something of a voting bloc on matters of Premier League governance like PSR or the recent APT rules tribunal.
At executive level and in the stands, both clubs are aggrieved at their treatment by the Premier League.
Everton feel unfairly targeted by Premier League PSR enforcers and will face another hearing relating to the capitalisation of interest payments on loans related to the Bramley Moore Dock later this year.
That could – in theory – see them hit with a third points deduction in two seasons.
Man City meanwhile are fighting in the arbitration courts against 115 charges that could see them stripped of titles, removed from the league entirely, or face the mother of all points deductions.
But in a recent development that some supporters might have missed, there is some good news for those pulling the strings behind the scenes at City and Everton.
READ MORE: Everton tipped to do what Tottenham couldn’t and strike £200m stadium deal
Everton and Man City extend European influence
While it is not known if Friedkin and Sorriano were personally in attendance, Roma and Man City were represented at the European Club Association general assembly in Athens last week.
Friedkin sits on the ECA executive committee through his ownership of Roma, while Sorriano is currently the sole representative of English clubs on the 24-persona board.
His imminent takeover at Everton means English football will soon have another representative in Friedkin.
The ECA is the top representative body for clubs in Europe with significant and expanding influence at UEFA level through an official agreement between the two entities.
Now, UEFA and the ECA have extended their memorandum of understanding until at least 2033 in a move which will indirectly safeguard the interests of both Everton and City.
As part of the new deal, UEFA has agreed to increase solidarity payments to teams not competing in its club competitions to £257m per year.
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Why are Everton siding with City in Premier League legal battle?
On face value, Everton and City are unlikely bedfellows.
In terms of their records on the pitch in recent years, the two could hardly be further apart.
And the ownership models of the two clubs – Everton’s a traditional capital appreciation project and City’s a soft power exercise by the Abu Dhabi royal family – are almost diametrically opposed.
But they both have an axe to grind with the Premier League, to put it mildly.
That is why Everton supported City at the APT hearing, despite the fact that one of the outcomes has brought the £450m-plus of soft loans owed by the club to Moshiri under the spotlight.
City challenged the APT rules, which govern commercial deals between clubs and owner-linked entities, on the basis that they were anti-competitive.
In a free market without curbs on how much owners could pump into their clubs, City’s spending would dwarf Everton’s by an even greater order of magnitude than it does currently.
Dan Friedkin Ryan Friedkin during the Pre-Season Friendly 2022/2023 match between AS Roma vs Shakhtar Donetsk at the Olimpic Stadium in Rome on …
Photo by Fabrizio Corradetti/LiveMedia/NurPhoto via Getty Images
But a looser APT system could also allow Everton to negotiate more freely with, say, Toyota, with whom Dan Friedkin enjoys an excellent relationship, for the naming rights for Bramley Moore Dock.
Like all Premier League clubs, they will act in self-interest. The fact that self-interest goes against the Premier League is an added bonus for those at Goodison Park who have felt persecuted in recent years.
Related Topics
Dan Friedkin
English Premier League
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Football Finance
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