No more talk of a Liverpool sale

With Christmas approaching two years ago, Fenway Sports Group’s ownership of Liverpool Football Club was at a crossroads. Uncertainty reigned.

U.S. banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley had been tasked with sounding out interest from investors. FSG, the Boston-based firm that had paid £300million ($380m in today’s exchange) for Liverpool in October 2010, had long since been open to the idea of selling a minority stake, but the difference this time was that a full sale was also on the table.

The backdrop was key. Having seen Chelsea sold six months earlier to a consortium led by Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly for £2.5billion — with another £1.75bn committed to investing in the club’s infrastructure — FSG wanted to establish what potential buyers would pay, with Forbes valuing the club at around £4bn.

With then sporting director Julian Ward and director of research Ian Graham both serving notice to quit their roles and Jurgen Klopp’s side a fading force on the field, it all added to a growing sense of turmoil.

Two years on, the landscape is very different. FSG remains at the helm and under their stewardship a new era has been launched. Liverpool are top of both the Premier League and the group phase of the Champions League, and in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup, where they face faltering Southampton tonight.

What was billed as the most difficult transition facing a major Premier League club since Sir Alex Ferguson retired as Manchester United manager in 2013 has so far proved to be almost seamless.  Klopp’s ‘Liverpool 2.0’ restored the club to Europe’s elite before his emotional Anfield goodbye in May and since then Arne Slot has led an evolution rather than revolution.

FSG still has its critics, with a section of the fanbase frustrated at its rigid commitment to a self-sustaining business model and an unwillingness to take greater risks in the transfer market. But there is also little doubt that FSG’s 14-year reign at Anfield has been given fresh impetus — and that any talk of a sale is off the table.

In the absence of any suitably attractive proposals, it was increasingly clear by January 2023 that FSG would only be selling a minority stake in Liverpool.  Senior club officials, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, tell The Athletic now that they viewed the process as “a fishing expedition”.

“There was never any clearing of the decks, it felt like it was more a case of testing the market,” one said. “And if you want to sell a slice of the cake for the best possible price, it makes sense to establish what the whole cake is worth.”

In September 2023, following discussions with a number of interested parties, FSG sold a small stake in Liverpool to New York-based sports investment firm Dynasty Equity. Sources close to the deal said it was worth between $100m and $200m — a stake of around 3-4 per cent.

FSG made it clear that the money would be used to reduce bank debt and go towards the cost of projects such as the Anfield Road Stand redevelopment and the repurchasing of Melwood training ground for the women’s team.

When Klopp spoke to his players in the dressing room after the final game of his reign at Anfield in May, he told them: “You have made a great start to the new era. Now you will all benefit from new energy.”

Those words proved prophetic. New voices, new ideas, but all underpinned by the same high standards. Slot has built on what Klopp left behind and has been helped by the structure created by Edwards and Hughes around him.   What a contrast to two years ago when talk of a possible takeover dominated the agenda and there were major issues that needed addressing both on and off the pitch.

But now there are no whispers of takeovers, or even of FSG diluting their position. For the senior officials spoken to by The Athletic, such talks are completely “off the table”.  The club that FSG has controlled for 14 years remains tightly in its grip.

Like any owners FSG have their flaws, but they must count as the best among the leading clubs.