According to reports, Fenway Sports Group (FSG) has put Liverpool Football Club up for sale.
FSG is open to offers for Liverpool, 12 years after purchasing the Merseyside club, revealed exclusively by respected football correspondent David Ornstein on Monday.
As per a statement from FSG to The Athletic:
“FSG has frequently received expressions of interest from third parties seeking to become shareholders in Liverpool. FSG has said before that under the right terms and conditions we would consider new shareholders if it was in the best interests of Liverpool as a club.
“FSG remains fully committed to the success of Liverpool, both on and off the pitch.”
𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲: FSG has put Liverpool up for sale.
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) November 7, 2022
A full sales presentation has been produced for interested parties. #LFC
More from @David_Ornstein
John W. Henry and Tom Werner, owner and chairman of the Group, bought the club in October 2010 for an estimated £300million. FSG also own Major League Baseball franchise Boston Red Sox as well as the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League.
Under their jurisdiction the senior men’s team has won the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, FA Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, and UEFA Super Cup once each, and the League Cup twice – although all but one of these honours only came after the appointment of manager Jürgen Klopp seven years ago.
It wasn’t always plain sailing for FSG on Merseyside, as the senior team won just one League Cup title during under the current owners’ first eight years calling the shots. Klopp’s appointment in October 2015 signalled the beginning of the end of Liverpool’s dry spell of little silverware.
Together with the owners of five other Premier League clubs, FSG was one constituent of the botched European Super League in 2021. Following its immediate collapse, Henry issue a public apology to Liverpool supporters.
Three talking points on a potential takeover of Liverpool:
– Who will buy Liverpool and how much will it cost?
As of May 2022, Liverpool FC is valued at £3,6billion by Forbes. Should sale go through, FSG may seek closer to £4BN given the Reds’ rich history as well as the Group’s investment into recruitment and facilities.
When Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich was forced to sell his shares in Chelsea earlier this year, there was no shortage of suitors to purchase the London club. Chelsea was eventually bought by the Clearlake Capital consortium for an estimated £4,25BN.
Five of the traditional big six clubs in the Premier League (including Liverpool) are now owned or chaired by tycoons hailing from the United States. Newcastle is owned by a consortium spearheaded by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), meanwhile Manchester City’s owners, City Football Group, was founded by Sheikh Mansour, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates.
Despite regular criticism surrounding expenditure, the current ownership has been committed towards developing the club’s stadium and facilities. Anfield is amidst major redevelopment, with the £80M project on the the Anfield Road End due to be completed next summer, raising the stadium’s total capacity to 61,000.
Renovations to the west-facing Main Stand was completed in 2016, costing £110M. In November 2020, Liverpool’s senior team moved to a new £50M training base in Kirkby after more than 60 years at Melwood.
(Photo by Nicola Sua/AMA via Getty Images)
– Squad investment
Under FSG, Liverpool have not necessarily spent big on players quite like their fellow Premier League heavyweights. In their 12 years in charge, FSG have warranted a total expenditure in the region of £1BN on recruitment in the senior squad. For context, each of Chelsea, Man City, and Man United have laid out approximately £1BN on signings just since 2016.
Depending on how quickly ownership changes hands, Liverpool could possibly embark on a spending spree in the January transfer window. The current group clearly needs an additional injection of quality, especially after losing a player of Sadio Mané’s ilk last summer.
Liverpool invested up to £100M on Darwin Núñez in the summer and although the Uruguay forward is a young prospect with his best years ahead of him, the Reds’ did not manage to acquire a true marquee signing.
Luis Díaz was a spontaneous acquisition in January and, when fit, the 25-year-old is almost certain to feature in Liverpool’s strongest XI. The future ownership will need to make that type of shrewd business a regular occurence.
This season Liverpool have had terrible misfortunes in regards to injuries and fatigue. Several players have been overworked it seems they are short on senior squad members to see them through this particularly gruelling schedule in an unusual season with a winter World Cup.
– What does this mean for Klopp?
As seen with the takeovers at Newcastle Utd and Chelsea (and even Twitter), the new hierachy generally opts to restructure the management and hire their own personnel. This could spell danger for Reds boss Klopp, although it won’t be so easy to get rid of nor replace the current gaffer.
Klopp has won the lot during his tenure at Anfield and the 55-year-old is engraved in Liverpool folklore. This past summer the German coach penned a new deal with the club until 2026, by which time he would be more than a decade into the job.
In the event Klopp is shown the door by the incoming ownership, this would be the third consecutive job his departure comes in the 7th full season of his tenure. Klopp left local team Mainz, after seven-and-a-half-years, to join Borussia Dortmund where he would also spend seven years as head coach.
Now into his 7th full season at Anfield, might history repeat itself?
