A day after their first away win of the season, reports emerge that Liverpool has been put up for sale by ownership group FSG.
FSG (Fenway Sports Group) purchased Liverpool for £300 million in 2010. If they were to sell now, they could receive a sum of £3.5 billion.
The American-based owners have, according to The Athletic, produced a ‘sales deck’, which are used in presentations. According to them, investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley assisted in the valuation process.
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FSG deny that the club is up for sale outright, but admit they are open to new shareholders.
“There have been a number of recent changes of ownership and rumours of changes in ownership at EPL clubs. Inevitably we are asked regularly about Fenway Sports Group’s ownership in Liverpool,” said a statement.
“Fenway Sports Group 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.”
Liverpool currently sit ninth in the table, 13 points behind last year’s title rivals Manchester City. The club appears to be suffering a physical and emotional comedown from last season, when they were two games away from achieving an unprecedented quadruple.
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Without venturing too far into speculative waters, one imagines this has been churning away in the background for a while. Any endeavour as seismic as this is bound to affect how the club is run. Jurgen Klopp needs more players, and while the club supported him with the £100m Darwin Nunez in the summer, the squad is still incomplete.
Any potential sale or change in ownership structure leaves Klopp’s necessary squad refresh in limbo. Meanwhile on the pitch, his team scrabble to salvage a season in which Champions League qualification is in doubt.
