Woody Johnson signs £190m deal to buy John Textor’s shares in Crystal Palace

Woody Johnson has agreed a deal to buy John Textor’s stake in Crystal Palace, with a sale to the New York Jets owner likely to be ratified by the Premier League within four weeks.

In a move that could be a major boost to Palace’s hopes of playing in next season’s Europa League, it is understood that Johnson’s offer of £190m for Textor’s 44.9% stake was signed on Sunday evening in the US. The 78-year-old, who has owned the Jets since 2000 and missed out on buying Chelsea in 2022 after making a $2bn offer, mustpass the Premier League’s owners’ and directors’ test before he can complete the purchase. But it is understood that with Palace under pressure from Uefa to comply with its regulations on multi club ownership, the league is expected to act swiftly to aid their cause.

A decision on the FA Cup winners’ participation in the Europa League is due this week, although it is believed this latest development will be looked on favourably by Uefa. Textor has come under ­increasing pressure from Palace’s chair, Steve Parish, and the other co-owners – ­Textor’s fellow Americans Josh Harris and David Blitzer – to complete the sale as quickly as possible.

The four Palace co-owners were part of the delegation that attended a meeting at Uefa’s headquarters in Nyon this month and argued that Textor, the majority shareholder in the French club Lyon, who have also qualified for the Europa League, does not have a decisive influence at Selhurst Park despite being the largest shareholder. It is expected that Johnson’s arrival should clear the way for Oliver Glasner’s side to take their place in the league stage.

It remains to be seen whether the former US ambassador to the UK, who has made no secret of his desire to buy an English football club, has his sights on a full takeover. Harris and Blitzer, who bought stakes worth a combined 36% in 2015 and have portfolios of investments across a number of sports, are believed to be willing to sell, owing to concerns about the ballooning costs of building a new main stand, which some sources are predicting could reach up to £240m.

View image in fullscreen John Textor has come under increasing pressure to complete the sale. Photograph: Daniel Cole/Reuters

Textor, who failed with an audacious attempt at a takeover of Palace in May in a last-ditch attempt to assume control, is understood to have been reluctant to leave the club in which he has invested about £180m since buying a 40% stake for almost £90m in August 2021. Yet he had a major falling-out with Parish, who owns just over 10% but is the executive chair of the managing company that is in charge of Palace and retains the casting vote, over resistance to embracing his Eagle Football network that also includes the South American champions Botafogo and the Belgian side Daring Brussels.

Textor is expected to turn his attention to another English club. The former Palace owner Simon Jordan revealed last week that he recommended to Textor buying the Championship side Sheffield Wednesday, who were last week hit with a ban on transfer spending until 2027 last week for the repeated failure to pay players’ wages. “I was talking to John Textor the other day, and if he comes out of Palace, I was saying to him that is the football club you should be buying if you want to buy another English club,” said Jordan.

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Textor failed with an attempt to buy Everton this year and has previously held talks with Watford’s owner, Gino Pozzo, about investing at Vicarage Road.

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