David Moyes Addresses Everton Ownership Challenges

David Moyes has revealed he has never met or spoken to Everton owner Dan Friedkin since returning to the club in January 2025 – despite the American having been in charge for almost a year.

Friedkin, head of The Friedkin Group, completed his takeover in December 2024 and runs Everton from Houston. He has not attended a home game since buying the club, and his absence has become a symbol of wider uncertainty over who actually drives key decisions at Goodison Park.

That uncertainty exploded into the open during a chaotic summer transfer window.

Moyes: ‘My real contact is Angus’

Speaking before Everton’s meeting with Manchester United on Sunday, Moyes underlined his commitment to the job, but painted a picture of a manager operating at arm’s length from the ownership.

Asked directly if he had met or spoken to Friedkin at any point in the 20 months since his reappointment, Moyes needed only one word: “No.”

Friedkin has delegated the day-to-day running of the club to his son-in-law Rishi Majithia, who works alongside chief executive Angus Kinnear.

“My real contact is Angus,” Moyes explained. “Angus is the one who I would go to see. Rishi is the next one and then the head of the Friedkin family in America.

“I don't really get any direct conversations with them, but I do through Rishi, he is the one I would speak to.”

The chain of command is clear on paper. It has felt anything but during the past week.

Anger over Armstrong and a stripped-back squad

Supporters’ frustration boiled over at Bournemouth last Saturday when news broke that Everton had accepted a £40m bid from Nottingham Forest for Harrison Armstrong, one of the club’s brightest prospects and an England Under-19s midfielder.

The club eventually backed away from the sale, but the damage to trust was done. Fans saw a prized asset almost moved on in the middle of an already tense window and turned their anger towards the board.

The pressure did not ease on deadline day.

Beto was sold to Fiorentina on Tuesday, with Everton yet to secure a replacement striker. USA forward Folarin Balogun then pulled out of a proposed move from Monaco at the last moment, leaving Moyes with a painfully thin group.

Everton closed the window with just 18 senior players. Only one recognised striker. One right-back. One left-back. A Premier League season to navigate.

Moyes did not hide behind the hierarchy when Armstrong was close to the exit. He publicly sided with the fanbase, stressing the club was “managed by an Evertonian” and adding that “supporters aren't always wrong.”

On Friday, he acknowledged the broader structural issues that still need resolving behind the scenes.

“We've got new owners in who are still feeling their way in the club,” he said. “I think if we get to know each other more it will get better.”

‘I wouldn't have come back for anybody but Everton’

For some managers, the combination of boardroom distance, transfer turmoil and a threadbare squad might be enough to prompt a rethink. Moyes insists he is not going anywhere.

Asked whether he had considered walking away, his answer was rooted in two decades of history.

“Everton's different,” he said. “I wouldn't have come back for anybody but Everton.”

This is the club he previously led to a string of top-five Premier League finishes between 2002 and 2013, the club where his managerial reputation was forged. He believes its resilience still runs deep.

“I think the club here has had enough days where the people find a way of recovering,” he said. “People saw the face of Evertonians last week and it can be really powerful. I would expect them to be really powerful now.

“But powerful for the team, powerful for the players. What we're going to need from them is extra because we're short, so we need them. If they're not with us, then it's terrible. And they are with us, I believe they are with us.”

The owner may be thousands of miles away in Houston, and the squad may be down to the bare bones. For Moyes, the real power now lies in whether Goodison Park chooses to roar or to revolt.