EVERTON chief executive Robert Elstone is set to leave and return to rugby league to become one of its most powerful men.
The Goodison Park power-broker is thought to be keen on becoming CEO of Super League, with the job of leading the competition into a new era.
Sources say an exit from the Toffees is now in the process of being negotiated after he was pinpointed as the man the 13-a-side code’s top flight want to replace Nigel Wood.
Among Elstone’s first jobs are set to be sorting out the transition to any new structure, with plans to extend to 14 clubs or cut to 10 on the table.
A new television deal is also up for negotiation in the coming years, which is where his experience with Sky will come in handy.
His departure will be a blow to Everton’s new £500 million new stadium at Bramley Moore dock in Liverpool.
Insiders close to the process of appointing a new Super League chief say the 54-year-old as the outstanding candidate among a clutch who were put forward to replace Wood.
Clubs seized more power over the off-season and the former boss of both Super League and the Rugby Football League left soon afterwards.
Now it is likely the major competition will have a different leader than the governing body, much like the FA and the Premier League.
Elstone, chief executive at Everton since 2008, has a background in rugby league after growing up a supporter of Castleford Tigers and eventually became a director.
He was involved in the creation of Super League in the mid-1990s, having a role in the Paris St Germain side, and has maintained close contact with his boyhood heroes.
His experience in TV, after working as Director of Football Business Affairs, is also a big reason why he is likely to take up the chief executive role at Super League.
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