A Saudi investment company are in talks to buy George Gillett’s stake in Liverpool. He currently holds 50 per cent of the clubs shares with compatriot Tom Hicks owning the other 50 per cent. If the Saudi company succeed in buying out the co-owner it could lead to a major shift in power in the English game.
Will Liverpool become the new Manchester City?
The company is headed by Saudi prince Faisil bin Fahd bin Abdullah and will be expected to give Rafa the Gaffer the money to take the club to the Premier League title. The question I’m now asking myself is will Liverpool now have the same financial clout that Manchester City now have?
Do this Saudi group have big financial muscle?
When groups of middle eastern investors are mentioned it seems to bring big excitement for fans but the truth is not all investors are happy to throw hundreds of millions of pounds on a football club. Some may buy football clubs as business opportunities rather than as a new toy. Also this Saudi company could own the whole club and for a club like Liverpool that would hard to take. The fans are already against the current foreign owners and more foreign owners looking for a good business opportunity could be to much for Liverpool fans.
Quiet summer thanks to co-owners
Current co-owners Hicks and Gillett have been painted as mercenaries just wanting to make money from Liverpool football club.These accusations are not completely unfounded as they it is rumoured that the pair have considerable debts tied up in Liverpool football club.
Liverpool’s summer was a quiet one in the transfer market and not on Rafa Benitez’s say so it was the co-owners who simple couldn’t afford to back their manager. Instead Benitez sold Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa to Real Madrid for £34million combined and Sebastien Leto to Greek Panathinaikos for £3million.
He brought in England full-back Glen Johnson and Roma playmaker Alberto Aquilani for around the the same amount of money. This doesn’t sound like a club wanting to move forward and its down to the two main men in the boardroom Gillett and Hicks. You could argue that the Liverpool boss has spent millions in his years at Anfield but last season they pushed United so close for the Premier League title that the Reds fans rightfully thought that the squad would be significantly improved to challenge a weakened United this season.
United weakened but Liverpool could take advantage
United were weakened in the summer no doubt by the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez and Liverpool could have strengthened their squad and took a big step towards their first Premier League title. Unfortunately for the Reds they didn’t strengthen and at times this season have been less than impressive. They are getting back to somewhere near their best as Saturday’s 6-1 demolition of Hull showed. In truth though Hull were all over the place defensively. United’s form in recent weeks hasn’t been convincing either though but they just keep winning in sometimes fortunate ways.
Worried without Torres and Gerrard
Whats worries some of my friends who are Liverpool fans is if they lost Spanish striker ace Fernando Torres or midfielder dynamo Steven Gerrard then they would be lost for ideas. The pair were injured last season when they claimed a 1-0 victory at Chelsea but that day they found a new saviour who of course was the now-departed Xabi Alonso. The Spaniard ironically actually had one of his most consistent seasons in a red shirt last season. So good it persuaded Real Madrid to splash out £30million on the former Sociedad star.
Don’t write Liverpool off just yet though
Even with my bias towards the blue half of Merseyside I wouldn’t back against our red neighbours claiming the Premier League crown this season. Fernando Torres looks like he is hitting form after five goals in his last two Premier League games and on his day is one of the best strikers if not the best in the world.
Then you have the one man team that is Steven Gerrard, who always seems to step up to the plate when Liverpool are in dire straits. Those two players are the reason why I’m not writing the Reds off. One thing is for sure though with or without investment Liverpool will be there or there abouts in both the Premier League and Champions League this season.
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