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Liverpool chiefs have just filed paperwork that shows new FSG takeover deal is close
Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group have one of the most powerful sports empires in the world and have no plans to curb their expansion any time soon.
As well as Liverpool, the sports and media investors own Major League Baseball outfit the Boston Red Sox and NHL franchise the Pittsburgh Penguins, alongside a number of other smaller teams.
After recently buying a stake in the PGA Tour, whose potential merger with LIV Golf is incredibly complex, FSG representatives said their hands were full and that no new major investments were imminent.
However, that was either a double bluff or they have since reversed that stance as FSG entered talks to buy a stake in French side Bordeaux earlier this summer.
Those talks eventually collapsed and Bordeaux have – sadly – effectively gone out of business.
But the negotiations were the biggest signal yet that FSG are keen on the multi-club model that has proved so successful for Man City and the Red Bull network.
Since then, they have also been loosely linked with another French side outside the top flight in Parisian outfit Red Star.
And the latest developments in the Liverpool throne room suggest that a new takeover could be very close.
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Liverpool create new company likely to be multi-club vehicle
It was not so long ago the FSG announced they were seeking strategic investment in Liverpool, which many interpreted as the Boston-based group being open to a full takeover.
However, either as a result of Man United diverting the attentions of would-be investors or because it was their plan all along, FSG eventually sold a minority stake to private equity firm Dynasty Equity.
FSG have since brough Michael Edwards back to Merseyside as CEO, with a key condition being that Liverpool would branch out into the multi-club space.
Now, a Companies House filing shows that FSG have created a new UK-based company called FSG Football Services.
The articles of association recently uploaded to the company registrar give do not indicate the company’s purpose, but football finance expert Greg Cordell says it is “likely MCO [multi-club operation] related.”
Which clubs could FSG bring into Liverpool multi-club network?
Prior to the Bordeaux negotiations, FSG had been linked with a number of clubs and territories as part of their multi-club ambitions.
They have reportedly explored four Brazilian clubs, as well as other outfits in leagues that the FA deem to be Tier 2 under the Governing Body Endorsement scheme.
Those markets would allow the club to hold players at sister clubs while the accrue the points necessary to play in the Premier League under the post-Brexit criteria.
However, FSG’s aims are believed to be slightly different to Man City’s, whose multi-club network revolves almost entirely around the mothership in Manchester.
FSG are said to want a club that is its own entity and that would not be reliant on or subordinate to Liverpool.