Exclusive: Ex-Everton CEO Wyness 'would do anything' to make surprise return to club 'I love'
Ex-Everton chief Keith Wyness has revealed he would “do anything” to return to the club and “help them out of this mess”.
The 66-year-old, who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs, insisted he is “still very fond of the club”.
US-based investment firm 777 Partners are in the process of taking over at Everton but their bid is yet to be approved by the Premier League, Football Association and Financial Conduct Authority.
Colin Chong is currently the interim chief executive at the club following Denise Barrett-Baxendale’s exit in June.
Recent reports have suggested the Merseysiders are effectively in around £1billion of debt as the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock nears completion.
And the club’s financial issues have spilled over into on-pitch matters, with Everton receiving a 10-point deduction last month for breaching the Premier League’s Financial Fair Play rules.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness said: “The Everton fans are fantastic.
“I’m still very fond of the club and really enjoyed my time there.
“Unfortunately I resigned on a matter of principle at the time, and that was a corporate governance issue.
“I would love to go back and try and help them out of this mess.
“It’s obviously a difficult situation currently with the bid from 777 Partners and I think things are at a standstill due to that situation.
“But I’d do anything I could to go back and help the club in any way. It would be an interesting time to come back.
“I joined Villa when they had just been relegated, and I joined Everton the first time when they were in a complete mess and we’d just sold Wayne Rooney.
“But we went on the have the most successful period this century, so hopefully we could turn things around.
“At that time it was myself, Bill Kenwright and David Moyes who ran the club – and we worked very well.
“The issue with Moshiri is that he didn’t have the correct people in place to spend the money, who understand how to trade on that level of deal.
“He didn’t have a strong enough executive team to stand up against some of the decisions that were being made.
“That’s one thing I did. I always spoke up and eventually, I even resigned on a matter of principle.
“It takes a strong executive team, now more than ever, to stand up and allow the manager to focus on the football side.”
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