Farhad Moshiri has 'fallen in love with' Everton, says Roberto Martinez

Everton manager Roberto Martinez has confirmed he has met new investor Farhad Moshiri and says he has "fallen in love" with the club.

It was confirmed on Saturday that the London-based Iranian billionaire had bought a 49.9 per cent stake in Everton in a deal which values the club at £175m.

There is a pledge of investment in the first-team squad as well as investment in a stadium, which is likely to result in Everton moving to a new ground.

Moshiri's personal wealth is estimated by Forbes magazine to be around £1.3bn but Martinez feels that his financial power is just one of several attributes the new investor will take to Goodison.

The manager feels Moshiri has been won over by the club's "heritage and history" and cites his previous involvement at Arsenal as another positive factor in his arrival.

"It's really good news. I met Mr Farhad Moshiri and the impression I got was a gentleman with incredible values and knowledge of the Premier League because he's been involved with another club," he said.

Sometimes you get business people who don't understand, but it's not the case here. He knows what it takes.

"He knows how difficult it is to have business plan and put it into practice. Sometimes you get business people who don't understand, but it's not the case here. He knows what it takes.

"Then it's been a process, someone being introduced to the club and I think he's fallen in love with Everton and the heritage and history. The chairman [Bill Kenwright] is the perfect person to introduce him to Everton and we have an exciting team now.

"We can embrace the previous years with a new figure. So you can imagine the excitement we have. Every Evertonian can look forward to it."

New money means Martinez should be able to operate more competitively in the transfer market while hopefully also being able to reward existing stars like Ross Barkley, John Stones and top scorer Romelu Lukaku with improved contracts.

However, he believes it is what Moshiri will bring to the club in general which will have more of an effect over the longer term.

"It is not just how much money you can spend because in the Premier League you will have money to spend," he added.

"It is creating a club that players want to come to as they feel they can reach their potential and win things.

"We want to become a winning team. I hope I have a billion pounds to spend in the summer - that would be very nice - but I don't see that as the success of bringing Farhad into the club.

"It is more what we need in the next five, 10, 15 years in terms of creating the perfect club for a player."