Kieran Maguire issues ‘£15m’ Liverpool reveal after ‘disruptive’ FIFA announcement
Liverpool can make up to £15million from a pre-season tour – so Fifa must make sure they are sufficiently compensated for participation in a “disruptive” quadrennial Club World Cup.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the plans for the new 32-team tournament.
As relayed by BBC Sport on Friday (16 December), FIFA president Gianni Infantino has announced an expanded version of the Club World Cup that will take place every four years starting June 2025.
No specific details regarding the makeup of the teams competing in the tournament have been released, with Infantino simply saying the “best teams in the world will be invited to participate.”
The likes of Liverpool, who won the Club World Cup in its current format in 2019, will insist that they receive an attractive financial package if they are to take part, claims Maguire.
“A pre-season tour can be worth up to £15m for a club,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“Therefore, if FIFA are coming up with an alternative, you can see why clubs such as Liverpool might be fairly circumspect unless the financial benefits are sufficient to make it worth their while.
“Ultimately, everything comes down to money as far as both FIFA and Liverpool are concerned. So, it’s a question of whether FIFA are going to make this competition worthwhile from a club’s point of view.
“There will be disruption. It might have an impact on the transfer market as it could make it more difficult to recruit players who are playing in the 32-team tournament.
“There are lots of problems introducing something else into what is already a very crowded timetable.“
In other news, Liverpool make new push to win Youssoufa Moukoko race as talks held.