Everton's majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri exploring consortium takeover bid which includes Peter Kenyon

Everton's majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri has held exploratory talks with a consortium, which includes former Chelsea and Manchester United chief executive Peter Kenyon, over a possible purchase of the club.

The consortium is backed by American businessmen John Thornton and Maciek Kaminski, who is the chief executive of a real estate company.

Sky Sports News understands Moshiri has been looking for investors to come into the club as it continues to build a new stadium at Bramley Moore dock, but it appears a full buyout is what the American consortium are interested in.

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Everton have refused to comment on the story, but talks between the two sides are set to continue.

Everton have spent more than half-a-billion pounds since Moshiri took over in 2016 with the 67-year-old holding a 94.1 per cent stake in the club.

Moshiri apologises to Everton fans: 'Mistakes have been made'

Last week, Moshiri apologised to fans for mistakes made at the club which saw them threatened with relegation until the penultimate match of the season.

A come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Crystal Palace three days before the end of the campaign extended the Toffees' top-flight spell to 69 years, sparking joyous scenes with thousands of fans spilling onto the pitch.

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But on the whole it was a miserable year for their supporters, one which started with the controversial appointment of former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez who was sacked after just 200 days in charge having won just five league matches.

While Moshiri did not refer to the Spaniard, whom the owner pushed to appoint despite dissenting voices from the board, by name he acknowledged there had been errors, including in the transfer market and also the clumsy appointment of Benitez's successor Frank Lampard.

"Whilst there is no denying that it was an amazing night when we turned around a 2-0 half-time deficit to secure a sensational victory and guarantee a 69th successive season in the top tier of English football last season, it should not be allowed to disguise the fact that we have underperformed in what proved to be a very challenging campaign," said the owner in an open letter to supporters.

"Mistakes have been made and for that I want to apologise to all of you. It has not been good enough and we need to do better. You have given us incredible support that helped us over the line when we most needed it, and we must repay that support and show that lessons have been learnt.

"More than any other club in England, Everton is the Club of its people, its community and its fans, and always will be.

"I am committed to securing the future success of the Club by delivering a fully-funded stadium that will underpin our status as a leading club. Our new stadium project at Bramley-Moore Dock has reached an exciting and landmark stage as it emerges from the ground, with the four main cores now in place.

"Of course, the stadium alone will not help us achieve our objectives and we are committed to not making the same mistakes again including how we have not always spent significant amounts of money wisely

"Thank you for everything you did to support your Club so brilliantly during such a challenging season. You did not deserve the frustration and fear that the season brought.

"Your incredible support is never taken for granted and together we move forward."

What has manager Frank Lampard said about his transfer plans?

Everton manager Frank Lampard speaking on the final day of the season:

"We want to take the club forward. It has to improve. We have to improve. I have to improve. I have to get to work in pre-season. I didn't have a pre-season [with this squad], now me and my staff do.

"Can we make the squad stronger and more balanced? I believe we can. We will look at everything in that way and it is important we look at it quickly. We have [director of football] Kevin Thelwell now and we have the board that are interested in trying to get the best out of this club.

"We don't want to be here next year but we understand if we don't make positive moves it is possible. So we will be ready to move on that quickly.

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"We want to play, the way we've played in the last month was fantastic but it's been a certain type of football. We've played a lot of big teams who have had more possession.

"We want to look at how we can be a little bit better in possession. Some of that will be the squad and recruitment, others will be how we work in pre-season.

"You're always starting to think about those things, you can never stand still or relax in this game. There's reasons we are where we are and there's reasons we just about stayed up. It's very important that after that break, we get to work."

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