Liverpool sale: who could be the next owner of Liverpool FC - from Redbird to Saudi Arabia investors

Liverpool’s owner are exploring a sale of the Premier League club but say there is “no urgency”.

Chairman Tom Werner has confirmed Fenway Sports Group (FSG) is considering the possibility but could yet remain in control for “quite a while”. It emerged earlier this month that FSG was looking at attracting new investment into the club and had not ruled out a sale.

In his first public comments on the matter, Werner told the Boston Globe: “We’re exploring a sale but there’s no urgency, no time frame for us, and, as far as I’m concerned, it’s business as usual. One outcome could be our continued stewardship for quite a while.” FSG partner Sam Kennedy has also revealed there has been significant interest both from potential investors seeking to buy the club and those looking at a minority stake.

FSG, then New England Sports Ventures, bought Liverpool for £300million in 2010. Forbes now values the club at around £3.5bn, and a weak pound currently makes the Premier League club more attractive to overseas investors.

Liverpool are not the only Premier League club up for sale currently. Long-time rivals Manchester United have also been put on the market by owners the Glazer family.

Here are the potential runners and riders who could possibly make a move to takeover Liverpool.

Saudi Arabia

BBC Sport has reported that Saudi Arabia would “definitely support” private sector bids from Saudi investors who wanted to takeover Liverpool. Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal, the government’s sports minister, said: “From the private sector, I can’t speak on their behalf, but there is a lot of interest and appetite and there’s a lot of passion about football.

“It’s the most-watched league in Saudi and the region and you have a lot of fans of the Premier League. We will definitely support it if any [Saudi] private sector comes in, because we know that’s going to reflect positively on sports within the kingdom.

“But if there’s an investor willing to do so and the numbers add up, why not?” Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is already the owner of Newcastle United in the Premier League.

Redbird

Redbird Capital Partners is a New York based investment firm. The group already owns a 10% share in Liverpool and have been suggested as a potential option to take over from Fenway Sports Group.

The group already own football teams in Europe, purchasing A.C Milan in Serie A in August of this year for £1bn and also own Tolouse as well as other sports teams around the world.

Redbird’s founder Gerry Cardinale has previously not ruled out purchasing Liverpool in full, the Metro reports he said: “I definitely would not exclude it as it would be a privilege but I think that Liverpool is in fantastic hands with the current group.

“We are there to support and play a supporting role where we can but that is a phenomenal team from ownership and management all the way down.”

Sir Jim Ratcliffe

The INEOS chairman and richest man in Britain has previously been linked with a move to buy Liverpool. He attempted to purchase Chelsea earlier in 2022 but missed out to the Todd Boehly-led consortium.

However he is expected to make a move to buy Manchester United, it has been reported. He was also linked with a move to purchase West Ham United in October.

INEOS own the cycling franchise Team INEOS (previously Team Sky) and is the owner of OGC Nice in Ligue 1 in France.

Sheikh Khaled

Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is a political leader from the United Arab Emirates. He is the cousin of Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour.

The Daily Mail reports that he previously failed with two takeover bids for Liverpool in the past. The first came in 2017 and second in 2018.

It has not been confirmed if he would be interested in reigniting his interest in the Anfield-side.

Sir Martin Broughton

The deputy chairman of International Airlines Group, owner of British Airways, Iberia and Vueling, he has previous history with Liverpool. The 75-year-old businessman was chairman of the Reds in 2010.

Despite being a Chelsea fan, he helped organise the FSG takeover of Liverpool for £300m in the year he was chairman of the club. He put a consortum together, along with Lord Sebastian Coe, to attempt to purchase Chelsea earlier this year, showing his interest to get back involved with football.