Fenway Sports Group will expand their portfolio with the purchase of another football club, though claims over a deal to buy Toulouse have been quashed.
Despite the imminent departure of Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool owners FSG have in fact doubled down on their commitment to the club – and the sport in general.
The appointment of Michael Edwards as CEO of Football within FSG has given the former sporting director a new remit, running all football operations.
In his words, “one of the biggest factors” in Edwards’ decision to return to working with Liverpool “is the commitment to acquire and oversee an additional club.”
Earlier this week, Football Insider claimed that FSG were “exploring a deal to buy Ligue 1 side Toulouse,” currently owned by RedBird Capital, who themselves hold a stake in the ownership group.
However, the Liverpool Echo‘s reliable Dave Powell has brought word from “well-placed sources in the US” that Toulouse are not being targeted.
Powell went on to explain the process being overseen by Edwards, with FSG previously holding interest in Brazilian club Cruzeiro.
Buying a club in South America is described as a “viable option,” though opting for investment into another European club is “more likely.”
That is due to the increased likelihood of players brought through an additional European club having an easier route to qualify for a UK work permit, in order to eventually play for Liverpool.
This can also “help acclimate players from continents such as South America or Africa,” with Powell using the £111 million bid for Moises Caicedo – who Brighton signed from Ecuadorian side Independiente del Valle two years previous for £4.5 million – as an example.
In theory, FSG could use their ‘network’ to bring players from other continents through a new club in France, Portugal, Belgium or the Netherlands as a conveyor belt of talent.
Brighton and the Red Bull group may have laid the blueprint, with Jurgen Klopp himself even commenting in the past how Salzburg could target players from Asia, South America and Africa when it was “just not possible” for Liverpool.
“The Austrian rules make it a little bit easier to make transfers for these kinds of players,” he explained in 2019.
“For us in England it’s just not possible to get that early ahead on the kinds of players they got.
“I think when they sold Naby Keita to Leipzig, it looked like they had the next one already lined up, a similar player, stuff like this.
“They’re always prepared for these kinds of things.”
As it stands, there is no concrete information when it comes to which club FSG could buy, with “no quick decision” to be made.
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