Keith Wyness seriously impressed by 'aggressive' new Everton plan
Everton chief Andrew Middleton is driving plans to increase the club's revenue from the use of Hill Dickinson Stadium.
That is according to ex-Everton, Aston Villa, and Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, as the club looks to maximise the benefits of the 52,000-capacity stadium.
Everton left Goodison Park last season to move to Hill Dickinson Stadium, with sporting events already confirmed to take place at the ground in the summer.
An increase in revenue at Everton could help fund the club's ambitions of climbing the Premier League table and bringing European football to Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Everton 'really pushing on' with new stadium plans
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 - wants to see "new innovation" in the club's stadium use.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness thinks the club need to give Middleton time to succeed.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “Look, he seems to be a young, aggressive guy. We've to give him a chance to try and get this done, and we'll see how it goes, but really I'm looking to see some new innovation coming from Everton.
"We saw that they've now got the Rugby League Magic Weekend coming to the stadium, and they've just announced the Scotland friendly as well against Ivory Coast, but also now it's Fiji against England Rugby Union.
"So we're starting to see the stadium breaking into use for other sports. I accept it's got to be trials of different sports. They've got to get it right before they can go big, but all the signs are good, but now it's a case of really pushing on and maximising that stadium 24-7 as best we can.
"So look, it's a great facility, and we've just got to maximise it. So that's the future for Everton right now.”
Everton have strong chance of signing Premier League striker
Wyness has also exclusively told Football Insider that Everton could sign Liam Delap from Chelsea in the summer transfer window.
David Moyes will look to add more goals to his team ahead of next season, and Beto is likely to depart the club amid his struggles in-front of goal.
Whilst Delap has only netted once in the Premier League for Chelsea this season, the 23-year-old scored 12 times for Ipswich last campaign.