Last updated on .From the section Football

Roberto Martinez: New Everton investor 'fallen in love' with club

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.

Farhad Moshiri has a personal wealth of about £1.3bn, according to Forbes

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."