Last week Liverpool principal owner John Henry last week reaffirmed the commitment of Fenway Sports Group to the Reds’ future.
In an exclusive interview with the ECHO last week, Henry addressed a number of topics, from the investment search to the growing difficulty in competing in the Premier League given the current financial landscape that exists.
On the transfer front, with what is likely to be the most expensive summer that FSG have experienced during their Liverpool tenure, one borne from the need to replace departing players and improve in key areas, Henry stated that the approach will be “responsible”.
“We’ve seen many football clubs go down unsustainable paths,” Henry said.
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“We have and will continue to focus our attention on investing wisely in the transfer market and we remain incredibly proud of our squad.
“Investment in the club is never for the short-term.”
Henry’s comments have been very much open to interpretation, and it won’t be until the summer arrives and moves are made to address the deficiencies that have dogged this campaign that the true intentions for what comes next will be known.
At Liverpool the correlation between off-field success and on-field success is more closely aligned than at any of FSG’s other sporting assets that they own.
Fallow periods are seldom tolerated, especially when the bar has been raised so high. There is an absolute requirement for Liverpool to be a top four side year in, year out, with the Champions League having become a core part of the club’s business model in recent years and one that has seen them deliver ever-increasing revenue streams.
The success has allowed for greater prize money, greater commercial revenues and a greater slice of the broadcast pie, although the flip side has been the need to spend more and more on payroll each year, with the price of success for the ownership being the requirement to extend contracts for their stars.
In reality, without the saleable assets that they have had in the past to offset the transfer spend, a net spend of £40m-£50m won’t cut it with Reds fans, nor will it allow for them to seriously address the issues that they currently face.
While they exited the Champions League at the round of 16 stage against Real Madrid on Wednesday, removing any hopes of qualification for next season’s competition through winning this year’s, the top four remains achievable for the Reds, even if defeat to Bournemouth last weekend knocked a sizeable dent in their hopes.
Jude Bellingham has long been seen as the piece of the midfield puzzle that Liverpool really need. He isn’t the panacea to all that ails them at present but he would undoubtedly be the cornerstone of a rebuild.
Borussia Dortmund won’t be pushovers when it comes to getting the value that they seek for the 19-year-old England international this summer, and there will be a clutch of suitors who will be out to beat the Reds to the punch, a queue that has Manchester United and Real Madrid jostling for position near the front.
Bellingham’s price tag has been placed at around £120m. That would be a fee £35m higher than the potential £85m that the Reds could end up paying for last summer’s big name addition, Darwin Nunez.
But with age on his side, Bellingham ticking a very important home quota box and the potential to be a world class force for the next decade, a positive interpretation of Henry’s comments could be seen to chime with the need for the club to invest “wisely.”
The initial payments for Bellingham would impact cash flow, that’s part of the reason why FSG have been seeking investment into Liverpool, to try and reduce some of that burden.
In 11 years time Bellingham will be 30, the age that Mohamed Salah is now, that Fabinho will be later this year, and a year younger than what both Thiago and Virgil van Dijk are at present.
Notwithstanding the significant wage packet that would have to be offered to lure Bellingham to Anfield, the potential for a player to be the bedrock of the Liverpool midfield, operating at a world class level, for the next decade represents value for money.
Manchester City paid £100m for a 25-year-old Jack Grealish. That was a deal done with the aim of it being immediately impactful, something that Bellingham offers at just 19.
For a shorter career stint in his prime years at the Etihad, the Grealish deal likely hasn’t offered value for money when considering how his fee would be amortised over the life of his contract.
For Liverpool, Bellingham offers the chance to have glean far more during a longer career span at the club. After Chelsea’s efforts to spread the cost of their acquisition of new players under the new ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, where deals as long as eight years were offered, UEFA will impose limits of five years from next season.
A five year deal for Bellingham at £120m would be amortised in the accounts as £24m per year. New contracts that would extend that deal would likely be negotiated 18 months or so into any contract, thus extending the life of the deal and reducing the amortisation cost on the balance sheet. But if Liverpool were to get a decade of Bellingham in the club’s midfield, aiding the effort for success on the field, it would represent a shrewd investment.
The transfer market isn’t going to deflate any time soon and player values are only going to continue increasing as the same happens with club valuations and the increased sums derived from broadcast media rights at home and abroad.
Investing “wisely” will likely focus on players who can be impactful and offer improvement but who also have a long shelf life at the club, negating the need to have a major rebuild every summer or two.
It has been said in the build up to previous summer transfer windows that ‘this is the biggest for FSG’. But this summer very much is, it will signify what the plan is likely to be over the next five years or so, and it will set the tone for the next phase of ownership under FSG, who could well have a new partner by the time next season kicks off.
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