Former Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton has predicted that both the Reds and Manchester United will sell for less than expected in the coming months.
Fenway Sports Group, the owners of Liverpool, announced that they were seeking outside investment just a fortnight before the Glazer family revealed that they were effectively putting Manchester United on the market late last year.
And although it remains to be seen if FSG are planning to sell a shareholding in the club rather than their whole stake, both clubs are believed to have asking prices in excess of £4billion.
Liverpool and United are two of European football's most prized institutions - but Broughton doubts that either will fetch the sort of figures that have been mooted.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Broughton said: "I would question whether they'll [United and Liverpool] get the kind of prices they floated."
Broughton, a lifelong Chelsea fan, attempted to purchase the Blues when they were put on the market last year. And he believes the fact that both Liverpool and Manchester United are based up north, rather than in London, could deter potential suitors.
He continued: "With Chelsea – and I think Arsenal and Tottenham would fall into the same category – the people we spoke to tended to be overseas billionaires who had a pad in London and the pad in London was in Knightsbridge or Kensington, Chelsea or something.
"So when they came to London, they went to Chelsea. They were football fans, and they were Chelsea fans... they're not going to be bidders for Liverpool or Manchester United because they've got a pad in London and they're not planning to move their pad to Manchester or Liverpool. So it's a different type of buyer to the ones that we were looking for with our consortium."
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While Manchester United are hoping that reported interest from a group of wealthy Qatari investors will spark a £6bn bidding war, FSG could decide to raise funds by selling a stake in the club rather than selling up completely.
Coincidentally, Broughton helped broker the deal that saw FSG purchase the club from Tom Hicks and George Gillett back in 2010 - and he believes that the Liverpool owners if they choose to sell completely, would be a hard act to follow.
Broughton said: "I personally think John Henry and Tom Werner are not just very good owners, but keen to have a good legacy and want to make sure that we're passing it to good owners.
"In a sense, they had the benefit of taking over from people that the fans hated. So they had everything in their favour as long as they did what they said they were going to do, which they did – they had the following wind. They're a difficult act to follow. To be a better owner than Fenway is quite difficult. At United, it's more like the old Liverpool situation. Fans will be so pleased. Whoever buys it will have the following wind."
