Everton respond to controversial comments by potential new owner John Textor after he discussed Sean Dyche’s future and likened taking over at Goodison Park to becoming president of the United States

Everton have distanced themselves from controversial comments from potential new owner John Textor after the current Crystal Palace supremo publicly discussed the future of manager Sean Dyche.

Textor is in talks to buy Farhad Moshiri’s 94.1 per cent majority stake in the Goodison Park club and said on Wednesday he is close to selling his shares in current club Palace in order to reach a deal to take over at Everton.

The 58-year-old spoke about Dyche’s future – he said he would consult with the manager to see if he could adapt to Textor’s strategy – and the new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock. He also compared the opportunity of taking charge of Everton to that of becoming president of the United States.

But Everton have distanced themselves from Textor’s comments and insisted there is still “work to be done” to complete the deal.

Interim chief executive Colin Chong wrote: ‘The club is aware of comments made by John Textor in relation to a potential takeover.

‘While positive discussions continue to be held and progress is being made with Mr Textor to formalise any agreement, there is still work to be done to complete the transaction. Accordingly, the comments made by Mr Textor merely represent his personal view on the affairs of the Club.

‘Everyone at the club is focused on providing the best possible support to Sean and the team as we head into this weekend’s fixture.

‘The Club will provide updates regarding new investments when there is significant news to communicate to supporters and other stakeholders, and this will be done through the Club’s official channels.’

The American businessman is chairman of Eagle Football Group, which owns stakes in Crystal Palace and French club Lyon, as well as three other clubs. But he said on Wednesday that the deal to buy Everton was 90 per cent complete.

“The possible acquisition of Everton would come from my own financing,” Textor told RMC Sport.

‘The deal that is being negotiated would be for me to be the buyer and not Eagle Football. The buyer of Everton would be John Textor. I would be the investor.

‘A new holding company would be created. There would be no impact on the OL Group. The acquisition would be done with own funds if everything goes well. There is a 90 per cent chance of reaching an agreement, but Everton’s current owner has many options.’

On selling his Palace stake, Textor added: ‘We have 14 groups interested in Palace who are very qualified and we have five who have gone to the next level and now we have two who have made good offers, while there is also the possibility that our partners still want it as they love the club as much as I do.

‘We are in the last week or two to know who the buyer will be. The contract I have with Farhad gives us plenty of time for that, as November 30 is the deadline set to make sure we can complete it.

“Nobody wakes up and thinks, ‘I can buy Everton’. But if you decide that football is what you want in your life and suddenly someone comes along and asks you if you want to become the owner of Everton, it’s like someone asking you if you want to be president of the United States.

“Of course I will. When it becomes available, I’m obviously not only interested, but I hope we can do it. It would be a great honour.”

Textor claims he has an exclusivity deal with Everton, although sources close to Moshiri have never confirmed this.