Roberto Martinez says Everton investment means more pressure
Last updated on .From the section Football
Everton manager Roberto Martinez says he can handle the extra pressure on him following Farhad Moshiri's multi-million pound investment in the club.
Iranian billionaire Moshiri, 60, has bought a 49.9% stake in the Toffees.
Martinez says his aims as Everton boss have always been to qualify for the Champions League and win silverware.
"With a new investor and fresh blood into our club, all of a sudden you have a new opportunity to get to those aspirations quicker," he said.
"The chairman and myself will embrace that pressure and that need of delivering the right outcome as we have a strong belief in what we are doing."
Martinez said Moshiri's investment was a "big moment in the club's history".
He added: "Farhad Moshiri will bring us a different dimension. The vision he is sharing will take Everton to the next level - and every single department will be assessed."
Everton are 12th in the Premier League and through to the FA Cup quarter-finals, where they will host Chelsea on Saturday, 12 March.
They lost to eventual winners Manchester City in the League Cup semi-finals.
Moshiri, who sold his stake in Arsenal to business partner Alisher Usmanov so he could buy into Everton, has a net worth estimated at £1.3bn.
"I met Moshiri and the impression I got was of a gentlemen with values who knows the Premier League inside out," said Martinez.
"You can get businessmen who don't understand it but this is not the case. I think he has fallen in love with what Everton means.
"This is the start of a new era with an incredible drive. As a human being and as a winner, Moshiri is the perfect person to come into Everton."
