"Any deal would have to allow the 64-year old an element of personal influence over operations and management"
Is a very telling quote, meaning any deal to get such influence is likely to involve the purchase of a significant block of shares.
if he decides on investing in a club, and if he sees the premier league rather than serie a or elsewhere in Europe as the best place for a return, then he's likely to invest here in Everton.
In order to get personal influence over 'operations and management' and not end up with the 'Arsenal' situation of a minority shareholding but no influence, he will have to build a stake large enough to do so. A large investment is needed.
it may be that he takes a smaller stake at first, with an agreement with his friend Farhad to buy his later, or he may only take a minority holding. Either way he'll need that holding to be a majority stake in combination with his friend Farhad and large enough that not even Farhad can do anything without his agreement.
It seems naive of some to think this highly unlikely as his words seem to indicate its definitely one of the possibilities he's seriously looking at. If he invests he's not likely to do it in a small way. The only way that might happen is he decides against the premier league and decides to invest in a club in the bundesliga or serie a and only invests here through Farhad or their shared company.
The premier league though does seem to me where the riches are and the place where the foreign multi billionaire's and oil rich sheiks flock to,.
The premier league's TV revenues dwarf those of Italy or Germany, a byproduct being the number of, even relatively modest, premier league clubs now entering the higher echelons of Europe's top twenty.
There are notable targets in other leagues but all have significant obstacles, Bayern, AC Milan and AS Roma have been cited, new ambitious owners will not be as easy to displace and the Italian league especially has revenue problems. For me the premier league is probably easier and more likely.