Liverpool will spend this summer, but they won’t be departing from their FSG-era operating style
This summer, the owners of Liverpool face one of the potentially most pivotal times in their nearly 13 years in charge of the Reds.
While the club’s pursuit of Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham, 19, who has been linked to them for so long, appears to be over after the Reds were reportedly priced out of a move, the need for major midfield surgery on a team that has struggled mightily this season, in particular, has not lessened.
A summer of two or three senior additions might have been typical in recent years, but with the likely exodus of players who are out of contract and the need to rejuvenate a weary team, five or six will likely be needed, with each one expected to have an impact.
With the investment into the club through the sale of a portion of FSG’s shareholding in the club looking increasingly promising to arrive by the summer, it will be a significant outlay of cash for Fenway Sports Group, and it will be a capital influx that will aid that effort in no small part.
If a minority partner does arrive, it will almost certainly be with a longer term plan in mind, potentially even for a full takeover in the coming seasons, but for the time being it would allow for the freeing up of funds at a time when the club’s finances will be challenged in a way they haven’t been for some time due to the almost certain absence of Champions League football, which was worth more than £100 million to the Reds for the 2021/22 fiscal year.
If a minority partner does arrive, it will almost certainly be with a longer term plan in mind, potentially even for a full takeover in the coming seasons, but for the time being it would allow for the freeing up of funds at a time when the club’s finances will be challenged in a way they haven’t been for some time due to the almost certain absence of Champions League football, which was worth more than £100 million to the Reds for the 2021/22 fiscal year.
Liverpool’s market approach under FSG has been both lauded and criticized. On the one hand, it has demonstrated how to put a successful product on the pitch while also maintaining a strong balance sheet by putting faith in data in recruitment. On the other hand, it has recently been viewed as something that can no longer be relied on to maintain a competitive edge year after year, especially given their rivals’ accelerated spending.
It is, however, a strategy that is unlikely to change, and having funds for a rebuild will see them continue to rely on the methods that helped them build a great team and achieve remarkable success in the first place.
When asked about the Reds’ approach to the market this summer, Liverpool principal owner and FSG supremo John W. Henry told the ECHO exclusively last month.
“Investment in the club is never short-term,” Henry explained.
“This approach has proven to be successful over time, but patience is required at times.”
“We continue to build responsibly at Liverpool Football Club.” Many football clubs have taken unsustainable paths. We have and will continue to focus our efforts on making wise transfer market investments, and we are extremely proud of our team.”
With Julian Ward leaving at the end of the season, Liverpool will need to hire a new sporting director this summer. Ward and the Anfield recruitment team will be in charge of identifying the players who the Reds could sign this summer.
However, there will be no significant shift from closely monitoring spending to splashing the cash. It hasn’t been how the club has operated for more than a decade, and it’s unlikely to change anytime soon.
Billy Beane, the man credited with popularizing’moneyball’ in professional sports by adopting Bill Lewis’ method while serving as general manager of the Oakland A’s baseball team, is a man Henry has long admired and respected. In fact, in a scene from the 2011 film ‘Moneyball,’ starring Brad Pitt, Henry attempted to make Beane the highest paid general manager in baseball as he attempted to bring him to the FSG-owned Boston Red Sox. Henry wanted Beane’s method of delivering success through market value to come to Fenway Park.
The technique was adopted by Henry in Boston via Theo Epstein, and it helped bring four World Series to the city after an 86-year drought. When FSG first arrived in Liverpool, they spent the first two years assembling a recruitment team that relied heavily on data, and still does.
That model has recently been called into question to a greater extent, as money has become increasingly vocal with each passing season. Bellingham’s profile appeared to be ideal for Liverpool, but the numbers required to make it happen appear to have dashed any hopes of him joining the club this summer.
Beane, who has recently applied his philosophy to European football, acting as an advisor to Dutch side AZ Alkmaar and being part of a multi-club ownership group, was speaking to club executives at the European Club Association (ECA) General Assembly in Budapest, Hungary, last month.
According to Off The Pitch, he compared Liverpool and their recent success against Manchester City to the Oakland Athletics, calling them “the closest example I can think of.”
Beane, who co-founded the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) RedBall with RedBird Capital Partners founder Gerry Cardinale and was in talks with FSG in late 2020 before RedBird decided to invest privately in FSG in March 2021, taking 11% for $750 million, also warned that major market spend and a focus on the numbers to make the project work could not coexist.
“The challenge for big clubs isn’t money,” Beane explained. “A lack of talent is a challenge for big clubs.” You cannot exist as a hybrid.”
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