What senior sources at Newcastle have been saying about Everton

By Louis Foster

It has been yet another challenging season for Everton, but up at St. James’ Park the Magpies are enjoying a stellar campaign, and according to one journalist, the Newcastle owners are ‘very aware’ of the mistakes Everton have made in the transfer market since their takeover.

Journalist George Caulkin was asked how closely Amanda Staveley and the Newcastle owners are watching the FFP situations at Everton and Manchester City.

Speaking with The Athletic, Caulkin replied: “This isn’t a new observation but, from the outset, both clubs you mention were at the forefront of the new Newcastle owners’ thoughts, although not quite for that reason. In terms of success, the idea is to become Manchester City; to do that, they had to avoid becoming another Everton.

‘As someone at the top of the club told me after the takeover, speaking anonymously to speak freely: “You look at a club like Everton who have spent so much money and you think, ‘ Well, where and why did it go wrong?’. And we’re very aware of that.”’

The Newcastle takeover is showcasing what could have been for Everton

Indeed, Everton’s 2016 takeover by Iranian billionaire Farhad Moshiri was supposed take the Toffees to the next level, providing the club with the financial resources that they had lacked for much of the Premier League era.

The Blues had been operating just outside the parameters of success at the time of Moshiri’s investment, but almost six years later and over £500m spent, Everton are facing a fight for top-flight survival and an investigation into the club’s finances.

Everton have become an example of what not to do, and it is of little surprise that Newcastle were eager to learn from the mistakes made at Goodison Park in recent years.

With a below average squad of players and uncertainty over the club’s future, fans have mobilised to protest against the current ownership, as the excitement of the 2016 investment already seems like a distant memory.