Everton set for transfer boost as ‘big deal’ close to being agreed
Everton could see further investment into the Toffees if Dan Friedkin is able to purchase baseball side San Diego Padres.
This is according to former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider that it could attract further co-investors into the Toffees if Friedkin is able to seal the deal for the US Sports franchise.
Earlier this month, it became clear that Friedkin and Jose E. Feliciano, whose Clearlake Capital owns a majority stake in Chelsea, are among the parties to have expressed an interest in buying the San Diego Padres.
The MLB franchise is valued at around £1.7billion, while the record sale of a baseball team was Steve Cohen’s near £1.8bn purchase of the New York Mets in 2020.
Premier League team owners José Feliciano and Dan Friedkin are both exploring bids for the San Diego Padres, per @Sportico.
— Kurt Badenhausen (@kbadenhausen) February 4, 2026
An agreement could set a record sale price for an MLB franchise. The current high is $2.42 billion for Steve Cohen’s purchase of the New York Mets in 2020. pic.twitter.com/tWwYNHSFgb
- Read more: Keith Wyness: Dan Friedkin wants to agree ‘major’ takeover deal, this is how it will impact Everton
Stefan Borson: Everton may be able to attract further investors
One of the key concerns for Everton fans is how a potential takeover of San Diego Padres would affect the investment into the Toffees.
Friedkin is already the owner and chairman of Roma as well as Everton, and by adding a third big club to his roster, it could dilute the money going into the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
However, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, not only does Borson not think this will be the case, but he insists that it could benefit the Toffees long-term.
He said: “In some ways, the European squad cost ratio and the other financial fair play regimes work quite well for a multi-club [ownership] like the Friedkin’s because it restricts what they’re able to do anyway.
“You know, they can’t spend £300million on each club, it’s not possible on players and player wages and all that. They’re not allowed to.
Friedkin Group put another £46 million into Everton in the form of shares ( which don’t have to be repaid). pic.twitter.com/kxPzSiiUUm
— Kieran Maguire (@KieranMaguire) September 5, 2025
“So, it means that they have a kind of limited investment within Europe. Not nothing, it’s still significant, but they can’t just go and say, well, we’re going to spend £500m here, £500m there.
“So it may be that they’ve got the capital to be able to do it. And it’s also probable that if they were to bring in another club, like an American franchise, they’d have co-investors. And maybe in fact, those co-investors say, actually, we’d quite like to be a part of the whole group.
“So it could actually end up making them more viable, putting more resources into the pot, rather than less.
“But, you know, unless they have the infrastructure and the cash, it is quite a big deal to be able to run three quite major clubs.”
Who are San Diego Padres?
San Diego Padres are a US baseball team that are members of the National League, one of MLB’s two major divisions.
The club were founded in 1969 and currently play at Petco Park.
Throughout their history, they have reached the World Series twice, once in 1984 and the other time in 1998.
While they have never won a World Series title, they have become increasingly competitive in recent years.
To learn more about Dan Friedkin’s potential takeover of San Diego Padres, look to our specialist team at Goodison News.