Keith Wyness, Everton’s previous manager, has said the club could profit from a “first-class” training facility with just “£10-15 million” in investment. Speaking on the latest episode of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old, who was CEO at Goodison Park from 2004 to 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs, insisted that prospective new owner Dan Friedkin will not need a large sum of money to provide the club with a top Premier League facility.
Last Friday (21 June), American billionaire Friedkin signed an exclusive agreement to buy Farhad Moshiri’s majority share in the Merseyside club. Finch Farm first opened in 2007 and is now owned by Liverpool City Council, who invested £4 million on upgrades in 2016. Leicester City and Aston Villa are among the Premier League clubs that have recently erected cutting-edge training facilities. Everton could invest ‘£15m’ to make Finch Farm ‘first-class’, says Wyness.
Wyness indicated that future renovations to Finch Farm may include expanding the property and constructing a dedicated hotel. He told Football Insider’s Insider Track podcast: “I don’t think Finch Farm requires a lot of investment. “I built the facility during my tenure at the club, and it has been upgraded since then, so you’ll start working in a really fine facility right now.
“Another £10-15million would make it as good as anything else in the Premier League.”The available acreage allows for expansion, such as establishing a hotel.Overall, Friedkin will not have to spend much money to make it first-class.”
