'I was glad I left Everton after what I saw happening' - ex-employee

Everton made poor recruitment decisions for years under the ownership of Farhad Moshiri.

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

The Iranian businessman bought the club in 2016 with Alisher Usmanov, after the pair had sold their shares in Arsenal.

Moshiri would own Everton until 2024 and leave the club in a dire position on and off the pitch when he sold to American consortium The Friedkin Group (TFG).

Chairman Dan Friedkin has overseen a stabilising period for the Toffees amid the move to Hill Dickinson Stadium, but is now openly looking to sell the club less than two years after buying it.

Everton's owners are reportedly looking for a deal in the region of £1billion, after spending around £400million to complete their takeover.

David Moyes 'rescued Everton from a difficult situation'

David Moyes had already left Everton by the time Moshiri came to power, with Ronald Koeman the first to benefit from their new spending power.

The Dutchman would guide the Toffees to seventh in the 2016-17 campaign, but it would ultimately all downhill from there.

When the sale was completed in 2024, Everton were fighting relegation and turned back to Moyes.

"When I was there, we got to the cup final. We got to two semi-finals in cups. We finished high up, fifth, with [Roberto] Martinez," King told Football Insider.

"There's always been that caution with money. When Moshiri came in, they spent wildly, and I thought they bought badly. I'd left the football club when he took over.

"When I saw some of the players and the recruitment that they brought in, I was glad I did. They were bringing in players who weren't Everton players, and when I was there, we were always told to bring in an Everton player.

"So, he [Moyes] came and he rescued them from a difficult situation, which always seems to happen to Everton."

"I'm disappointed really for David that he hasn't won a major cup," King added. "I'm a big fan of his because I worked with him for a long time. He's a football man. He's a builder of it. He really built Everton."

Everton sale must be right

Fans will hope that Everton's next owners are a right balance of both Moshiri and TFG.

The former was ambitious and passionate about the Toffees, but ultimately spent irresponsibly and left them club in a worse position than he had found it.

TFG, on the other hand, is almost too responsible, and has left the team in an uncomfortable position on the pitch this season in their attempts to maintain financial solidity.

A mix of the two would make for the perfect owner, and Everton will hope that the right one is waited for.