Everton takeover: Farhad Moshiri ponders Carlo Ancelotti possibilities as fan groups look to future after Friedkin Group buy Merseyside club tophyper

Farhad Moshiri says the end of his ownership of Everton has left him with “mixed feelings” and that he wonders where the club would have been had Carlo Ancelotti stayed at Goodison Park.

The British-Iranian businessman’s tenure in charge of the Toffees ended on Thursday after he sold his stake in the club to the Friedkin Group in a deal believed to be worth more than £400m.

The takeover has prompted Everton fan groups to look forward with “hope and optimism” after a particularly chaotic period under Musehiri.

The club endured a difficult relationship with fans, management turmoil, relegation battles, the collapse of the board, a Premier League points deduction and a financial crisis that pushed Everton to the brink.

In an open letter to fans, Moshiri admitted feeling “sad in retrospect” after a “difficult” spell on Merseyside, but said he leaves the club “in a better place financially” than the one he inherited.

“I fully understand that results on the field are of the utmost importance in football, and over those same years they were not good enough,” Moshiri wrote.

“We have brought top-class coaches like Carlo Ancelotti to the club and who knows where we would have been had he not been tempted to return to his first love, Real Madrid.”

Moshiri said in the message, external Leaving Everton with an “iconic stadium” for “all Evertonians and the wider community to enjoy for decades and decades to come” was something he would “feel real proud of”.

He added: “When I bought the club eight years ago, I knew it needed modernisation, both with a new stadium and also with the training ground, which has seen a lot of investment.”

“The significant costs of these improvements have been borne through my ownership, with season ticket prices remaining the same throughout my ownership.

“We have tried to minimize the impact on fans with our tickets, which are among the most affordable in the Premier League.”