After hearing that Liverpool FC is for sale, club owners say they “would consider new shareholders.”
The Athletic reported that Fenway Sports Group (FSG), the company that bought Liverpool in 2010, is “open to offers.”
FSG said it “remains fully committed to Liverpool’s success both on and off the field.”
Liverpool finished runner-upin the Premier League last season. They now come in eighth.
They will play Real Madrid in the round of 16 of the Champions League, a rematch of last year’s final.
A group of Liverpool fans called the Spirit of Shankly said it hoped fans would be included in any talks about the club’s new owners.
Under its old name, New England Sports Ventures, FSG paid £300 million for Liverpool.
Since 2011, when he paid £4.7 million for a 2% share, LeBron James has been a part-owner of Liverpool.
He is now a partner at FSG, which owns the baseball team Boston Red Sox.
In March 2021, a private investment company called RedBird Capital Partners paid about $735 million (£533 million) for a piece of FSG.
After Liverpool dropped out of a proposed European Super League in April 2021, the club’s main owner, John W. Henry, apologized to the fans.
Liverpool initially spent £64 million on striker Darwin Nunez, £5 million on midfielder Fabio Carvalho, and £4.2 million on defender Calvin Ramsay this summer.
Sadio Mane left the team to go to Bayern Munich for at least £27.4 million, and Takumi Minamino left to go to Monaco for an initial £13 million. Neco Williams also went to Nottingham Forest in a deal worth about £17 million, and defender Ben Davies joined Rangers for an initial fee of £3 million.
Why Liverpool is probably on the market
Fenway Sports Group knows that Chelsea was sold for a great price of £4.25bn and that Newcastle United is now a new rival. In the Champions League, you can’t win with a score of 6–4, and 7–4 is even worse.
The club’s owners paid £300 million, the same amount that FSG paid for Liverpool. If FSG is willing to listen to offers, they could sell for at least ten times that amount. So investors and rich people still make money from the Premier League.
Since the pound is weak, investors outside the UK see this deal even better.
Arsenal hasn’t been in the Champions League for five years, and Liverpool’s owners will know how much money Arsenal has lost in that time. Because they have been careful about spending more money, they will want something other than their own business. So they probably think now is a great time to sell or at least look at the club’s options.
Liverpool will be of interest to most American investors. The Chinese government has tried to stop its companies from putting money into football, so that field has disappeared. I don’t think too many people in the United Kingdom would have close to £4bn to buy Liverpool.
Why do they have to sell now?
Over the last two or three years, their uncertain interest has led them to test the market. Is someone ready to take the lead now?
Over 200 people tried to buy the troubled asset Chelsea. But FSG knew that Liverpool was a huge brand. So, they would want a significant return on the £300 million they put in.
Read Also: FSG puts Liverpool up for sale
FSG has done an excellent job building Liverpool and using the “Moneyball” idea to find and keep players. This is why Liverpool has done well in the last seven or eight years—in contrast, spending half a billion dollars less than Manchester City, Manchester United, and Chelsea.
Supporters will be worried about whether any new owners can keep up the FSG model.
The club has connections to big and significant banks.
