Everton have denied that the club are for sale but Bill Kenwright is prepared to vacate Goodison Park if he can find wealthy investors who can turn the team into title contenders.

Kenwright, the theatre impresario, has been the chairman at Everton for the past eight years but does not have the funds to help the club to break into the top four. Russian, American and Dutch investors have expressed an interest in buying the club and Kenwright has turned to one of his friends, Sir Philip Green, the billionaire retail entrepreneur, who is the seventh-richest man in Britain, for advice.

“Bill has often said that Premier League football has become a game not for multimillionaires but for billionaires,” an Everton statement read. “Bill has never attempted to hide the fact that he does not have the funds to move his club forward to where he and the supporters want it to be and where they believe it should be — at the forefront of the English game.”

Everton punched above their weight to finish fifth in the top flight last season and they would become a more attractive investment opportunity if planning permission is granted for a new £400 million stadium in Kirkby. Any investment is likely to come too late to help David Moyes before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

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The Everton manager expressed his disappointment yesterday that he has not signed any players this summer. “I was hoping to have added to the squad by now and brought a few in to give the players a lift,” Moyes said. “It’s not just a new face we need — it’s new faces. My big concern is that anybody we bring in now probably won’t be ready to start the Premier League season.

“It’s now getting to the stage where you are wondering how long it takes for new players to settle. I’m hoping we will have some in. But I’m not going to turn around and say I am totally confident because you never know what happens.”

Moyes’s spending plans have also been held up by Fulham’s refusal to pay up to £12 million for Andrew Johnson. Fulham are trying to renegotiate the transfer fee after a problem with the forward’s medical.

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