Everton agree ‘surprising’ new deal, ‘this has come out of the blue’
Everton have agreed a surprising new hire behind the scenes to help the commercial side of the club.
It has been a summer of change at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin departing after a nine-year spell on Merseyside and Abdoulaye Doucoure also leaving on a free.
However, Everton were able to sign Jack Grealish on loan and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Chelsea, among a number of other names.
Now the Toffees have made a change in the boardroom, as they look to strengthen their behind-the-scenes team.
Everton’s new hire can be guided by Angus Kinnear
Last week (9 October), it was announced that Everton had appointed Andrew Middleton as their new president of business operations.
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that the hiring of Middleton came out of the blue.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness insisted that it was a surprising decision to appoint the commercial expert, as he has had no experience in the football world.
However, Wyness added that Middleton is clearly very intelligent and can be guided by current CEO Angus Kinnear.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: ” This was one that came out of the blue for me. I’d never heard of him, and that’s because he’s not been in football.
“He was with British Gas, EasyJet and recently at Evelyn Partners, who are one of the biggest financial advisors. So it’s a business background.
“Now, these things in football work, or they don’t work. It all depends on how quickly he can understand how football clubs operate.
“It’s all right having strategies and ideas, but the execution of those strategies are constrained by the abilities of your staff and the abilities that you have to actually execute to understand what really goes on with the fan interactions, with fan engagement, with match days.
“Often it’s a learning curve that can take too long for people coming from the outside. So I’m a little bit surprised.
“Of course, Angus has got a lot of experience and can guide him. He’s a Cambridge graduate. He’s obviously a very bright guy, and I’m quite prepared to give him a great chance and to wish him all the best, and I’ll help him if he wants any assistance on that.”
Everton saved millions in legal case
Meanwhile, Everton may have saved up to £2m as a result of the out-of-court settlement with Leeds United.
That is according to former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson who believes the Toffees got away with one, and that they would’ve been forced to pay a much bigger price if the case went to court.
Leeds were one of five teams to apply for compensation after the Merseyside club were charged with profit and sustainability rules (PSR) breaches for 2021-22 and 2022-23.
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