Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group want to add more sporting teams to their empire - and that is something they haven't tried to keep secret.
Reds chairman Tom Werner, Sam Kennedy and fellow FSG partner Gerry Cardinale - whose RedBird Capital Partners private equity firm owns 11 per cent of Liverpool's owners - have all declared that the next phase of growth for the group will come from more team acquisitions, something that will follow on from the November takeover of the Pittsburgh Penguins NHL team in a $900m deal.
More football teams have been mooted, potentially in South America or in Major League Soccer, while a run at an NFL team much further down the line hasn't been ruled out. But it is an NBA acquisition that is expected to take place next for FSG, whose overall empire is now valued by Forbes magazine at around $10bn.
