Everton's owners 'don't know what they're dealing with' - David Moyes bust-up takes new twist

David Moyes has had trouble seeing eye to eye with The Friedkin Group (TFG) since his return to Everton last year.

That is according to former senior Everton scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.

The owners took over the Toffees from Farhad Moshiri less than two years ago but are already looking for potential buyers, after facing criticism from the fanbase.

TFG appointed Moyes just weeks after they had completed their takeover of the club, and the Scot has led Everton away from relegation danger since.

In September, however, the 63-year-old revealed that he has never met or even spoken to chairman Dan Friedkin since his return to the club.

Should new owners buy a controlling stake in Everton in the coming months, Moyes may well face an uncertain fate.

'There's always been a gulf between David Moyes and the owners'

Though he has not been massively outspoken, Moyes was surely left just as unimpressed as the Everton fans by the summer business.

The Toffees went close to selling Harrison Armstrong to Nottingham Forest for £40million but pulled out amid fan pressure, selling Iliman Ndiaye to Manchester City instead.

The Toffees spent all summer chasing a right-back before signing one on transfer deadline day, and managed to sell one of only two recognised strikers without sealing the arrival of a replacement.

"The problem has been since this new lot took over, they don't see eye to eye with him and he certainly doesn't with them," King told Football Insider.

"Whether The Friedkin Group are the ones that have been making the problems for David Moyes, I don't know, but it seems as though he's not only battling to put Everton in a good position in the Premier League, but he also seems to be battling against the people that own the football club. That makes it impossible to do his job properly."

King added: "I feel that there's always been a little bit of a gulf between David Moyes and the people who bought the club. We see that people who spend that kind of money and take over a Premier League club and then want to get rid of it within two years.

"Everton fans are loyal. David Moyes is loyal. It seems that the owners don't realise the history of the football club."

What has Moyes said about pending Everton sale

Speaking following news of TFG's plan to bring new investors into Everton, Moyes expressed his surprise.

"Yeah I was surprised, they'd only came in a year and a half ago," the Scot said earlier this month. "Most owners come in for a lot longer than that. We were all expecting them to be here for 20 to 30 years, however long it may be.

"But maybe the way things worked out over the transfer window, I probably had seen through it a little bit before that. It's probably all there for Evertonians to see now.

"I truly believed that with new ownership who were in for it completely with us all, my ambition coming back was to get Everton back to the levels they'd been at in the past - challenging for Europe more often, being around it.

"And probably you could tell with how I've been a lot over the summer that that's the way it's been. It's been a difficult summer for us. I only found out this morning myself along with everybody else. I'm a little bit surprised, but maybe not really that surprised."