Liverpool investment news as finance expert makes ‘timeline’ claim amid FSG decision

Fenway Sports Group’s (FSG) search for new Liverpool investors will ultimately come down to ‘on-pitch performance’ - and it’s tricky to say when fresh capital might arrive.

That is the verdict of Dr Dan Plumley, a sports finance expert speaking to LiverpoolWorld with Grosvenor Sport.

FSG made the decision to place the Reds on the market more than six months ago. Principal owner John Henry has since confirmed that the American group are looking for new investors rather than a full sale of the club.

Liverpool’s fierce rivals Manchester United are up for sale and have received bids from Qatari Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe among others. While there have been plenty of parties linked with Liverpool, including US-based Liberty Media, an offer is still seemingly to come to fruition.

On the pitch, the Reds have won every trophy possible under Jurgen Klopp and been regulars in the Champions League - football’s most lucrative competition. Although Liverpool may miss out on qualifying for Europe’s elite club tornament next season, with Klopp’s men sitting fifth in the Premier League table, Plumley believes that may not impact FSG too much.

But given any new investor will want a financial return in the future, being in the Champions League consistently down the line will be imperative.

Plumley - a senior lecturer in sport finance at Sheffield Hallam University - quizzed on when he predicts invesment may arrive, replied: “I think is there's no exact science to this, but I think it often comes down to on-pitch performance and investor goals. If we go back to the American example and we're talking about return on investment.

“That would be realised with regular Champions League football is going to be the crux of it for Liverpool. You have to be in that competition nowadays if you're a big club and it's OK to miss that once or twice and they might miss this year. But where you don't want that to be is a cycle where you keep missing because that has impacts then on the value of the club and investors coming in and the proposition and then what they get out of it.

“So put simply, the timeline's tricky because you're looking at on-pitch performance, but what we do know for Liverpool at the minute is given where they'd been. They have to be in the Champions League to attract to that kind of investor and retain that kind of investor for them to then get a return on investment in the future.”