The future of Liverpool Football Club remains up in the air after the FSG issued a statement less than a week ago welcoming possible investment opportunities, without ruling out a complete sale of the team.
The prevailing sentiment among commentators in the know is that a third party investor coming in and buying a minority stake is the more likely of the two, as things currently stand.
In a process likely to be defined by years rather than months, of course, it doesn’t make sense to rule out the possibility of Fenway handing over the keys to the kingdom just yet.
With that in mind, it begs the question of what possible scenarios fans may face.
READ MORE: What FSG’s backroom will mean for Liverpool’s potential sale – The Athletic
The best (and the good)
steve ballmer
It’s worth emphasizing at the outset that there are currently no genuine links between Liverpool and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
However, with an estimated net worth of $80 billion and a reputation as one of the most popular and left-leaning names (compared to the modern pool of esports owners) in the game, fans could be forgiven for highlight the NBA figurehead as the ideal potential choice to shake hands with John W. Henry and Co..
Stephen Pagliuca and Bain Capital
Stephen Pagliuca was a name heavily linked with Chelsea at a time when Roman Abramovich was looking to clean his hands of UK assets.
He evidently failed to take the reins at Stamford Bridge, although the Express reports he is a ‘serious contender’ to buy Liverpool and could still take advantage of a close relationship with FSG.
According to TEAMtalk, the American has assets that dwarf those of Man City owner Sheikh Mansour by a whopping £112bn.
Far East?
Stefan Szymanski, author of Soccernomics, told the Liverpool Echo that an East Asian option is more likely to enter the club than a group from the Middle East.
“Who do you have left? Bahrain, Kuwait, I don’t think Dubai will ever come close to one, so it’s running out of those kinds of buyers,” she said. “The other option is someone in the Far East. Liverpool is such a big name in East Asia and there are Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean billionaires, it would certainly sell well in that part of the world. It would be reasonable to think that there would be a lot of interest.”
Assuming Fenway can attract an appropriately wealthy buyer, it would allow Liverpool to potentially sidestep serious human rights concerns linked to parties based in the Gulf states.
Worst
International Capital of Dubai
Dubai International Capital was interested in Liverpool at a time when disaster duo Tom Hicks and George Gillett were calling the shots in the Reds’ boardroom.
Now, investors in Dubai could return for a second chance at the FA Cup and League Cup champions after Arabian Business reported they may be considering a second takeover attempt.
With wealth amounting to $13 billion in terms of total assets under management (Liverpool World), DIC could be the group to catapult Jurgen Klopp’s men to the next level.
Having said that, you’d be hard-pressed to find many Reds fans interested in the prospect of gulf state money coming into the club given the associated human rights abuses, and rightfully so.
Four mysterious entities from Dubai
Four Dubai-based groups have reportedly already contacted the Emirate about the possibility of submitting a joint bid to buy the club.
The Athletic reports that a lack of clear evidence about his ability to properly fund a move ended the conversation fairly early.
EOTK INSIDER: Does FSG want to sell Liverpool? What is really going to happen?… and more
