Its been three months now since Liverpool owners, the Fenway Sports Group [FSG] announced the sale of the club through The Athletic. After almost a decade in charge, the FSG have opted to explore an option of new investment in the club, while being fully ‘committed to the success of the club both on and off the pitch’ until a successor is found.
However, since then, no concrete talks of a sale have been heard with the takeover process gone cold. Fans have even started suspecting that the FSG have U-turned on their decision, with reports claiming that the American owners are now thinking of a selling a fixed stake than giving up the whole ownership. Amidst rumours and reports, Football Insider claim that there has been a significant development in the Reds’ takeover process.
Liverpool held preliminary talks with Qatar Investment Authority over a proposed sale
Since Liverpool announced their sale, a number of interested parties have shown interest in buying the club from the FSG. Bids from Europe as well as America are expected to arrive on FSG’s table, with potential suitors from the oil-rich middle east nations however touted as the favourites. Despite FSG’s desire to maintain total ownership of the club, a report from Football Insider revealed that middle-eastern investors could opt to purchase a majority stake.
The report further makes a massive revelation that preliminary talks have taken place with the £373 billion worth sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority [QIA]. Qatar had already confirmed its interest in expanding their investment in football, with the CEO of QIA, Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud confirming it at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland last month. Al-Mahmoud had told Bloomberg:
“Football, the clubs and the sport is becoming very commercialised in a way, especially now fans are looking into this as an experience, so they would like to and experience and entertain themselves….You will not be surprised if we invest in this. We have not made up our mind yet but this is a very commercially driven decision that we go through. And again, sports is becoming a very important theme as well, people are engaged more in a sport and digitalisation is making it more attractive to investors.”
The QIA has also been linked to investments in both Liverpool and their Premier League rivals Manchester United. The Red Devils’ owners, the Glazers have also put the club on sale and are way ahead of the Merseyside club with their process, according to the Daily Mail. The Glazer family, who have owned United since 2005, after enormous debts and incited fan hatred, have asked US investment bank Raine to oversaw their sale.
The QIA has numerous subsidiaries, one of which is the Qatar Sports Investment [QSI] led by chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi and owns the French giants Paris Saint-Germain. Although QSI owns a majority investment in PSG, it has previously stated a desire to enter the Premier League. Even Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy had held talks with them over owning a significant stake in the club.
Meanwhile, Liverpool have fallen to new depths this season, as they are currently 10th in the league and facing a formidable challenge to make it to Europe. Many have attributed it to FSG’s failure to invest to resolve their midfield crisis. Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Jude Bellingham is wanted, however, because he is expected to cost in the region of £100 million, which is more than the Reds’ current owners FSG have ever spent on a single player, new investors might be needed in order to once again compete for high-profile signings.