When the Friedkin Group completed their takeover of Everton, Dan Friedkin pledged to contribute positively to the club's history and its proud local identity. Executive chairman Marc Watts promised a new era defined by ambition and professionalism. Barely eight months into their stewardship, the summer transfer window has made a mockery of every word.

A squad stripped bare

Everton enter the new season in a state of alarming fragility. Manager David Moyes has just 18 established outfield players at his disposal, with Thierno Barry standing as the squad's sole recognised striker. The club ranked 18th in the Premier League for net spend this summer — last among all 17 non-promoted top-flight sides in squad value — at a time when enormous sums circulated freely across the division.

More than £100 million was recovered through player sales on the final day of the transfer window alone, almost double the total outlay across the entire summer. The scale of asset-stripping drew uncomfortable comparisons to the January 2023 window that accelerated the collapse of Farhad Moshiri's ownership.

A chaotic pursuit of strikers

The window's most damaging episode centred on a late move for Folarin Balogun. The Monaco forward walked away from negotiations at Finch Farm in the closing hours of deadline day, leaving Everton without a meaningful striker addition. Before the United States international's dramatic U-turn, the club had also explored a loan for Manchester United's Joshua Zirkzee and an approach for Tammy Abraham at Aston Villa — neither of which gained traction.

The £60 million sale of Iliman Ndiaye to Manchester City was expected, yet the manner of it still stung. Early plans had pointed toward a deal with Tottenham at the same figure, offset by the prospect of Richarlison returning on a £35 million deal. That option collapsed. A second loan of Jack Grealish from the Etihad Stadium offered little consolation for the loss of Everton's most dangerous attacking outlet in recent memory.

Ownership under fire

A fortnight before the window closed, CEO Angus Kinnear had publicly assured supporters that the club stood on firm financial ground. What followed shattered that narrative entirely. Earlier talk of a structured 'two-summer window plan' was quietly abandoned as surreptitious attempts to sell academy graduate Harrison Armstrong to Nottingham Forest — shelved only after fan protests at Bournemouth — set the chaotic tone for what was to come.

Supporters have responded with visible anger. Atmosphere group The 1878s confirmed their pre-match displays will be suspended indefinitely, while others have vowed to boycott spending inside Hill Dickinson Stadium, beginning with the home fixture against Manchester United.

The contrast with TFG's handling of AS Roma is striking. In Rome, the owners have engaged directly and repeatedly with supporter concerns, even through turbulent periods that included three managerial changes in a single season. At Everton, the absentee ownership has retreated into silence while reportedly sounding out potential investors to dilute their near-total shareholding — and simultaneously pursuing plans to launch an NHL franchise in Texas.

Moyes, speaking after the final match at Goodison Park, described a club that had felt broken but was beginning to heal. Fifteen months on, that sense of fracture has returned — and the responsibility for repairing it rests firmly with the owners and the executives they have placed in charge.