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Liverpool nearly sold in 2005

American sports business tycoon Robert Kraft almost bought Liverpool Football Club in 2005, but was put off by the lack of a salary cap in football.

Kraft owns the New England Patriots of American football’s NFL and New England Revolution of the MLS and has successfully turned the New England Patriots into a dominant force within American football over the last ten years.

He revealed yesterday, ‘œI wanted buy Liverpool. I met with David Moores, who is a fine gentlemen, and we came very close to buying it, very close. But in the end, my instinct was – not without a salary cap. If a salary cap come to the English Premier League, I’d buy a team in a minute.’

‘œI loved the fans. Just like Patriot fans, they are loyal, passionate, which has zero book value on your balance sheet but is worth a lot. I knew we could do the stadium. I knew we could design it so it was fan-friendly, to maximise revenue, lowest cost – build the stadium for £100 million less than anyone else and have it be great, because we had done it in New England. I was willing to do it, but the lack of salary cap, in the end – I never like to get in over my head. If the salary cap was there, then we would have done it.’

Two years later, Moores sold the club to American tycoons Tom Hicks and George Gillett. And we all know what happened there.