Stefan Borson ‘surprised’ after Liverpool’s owners make new takeover decision
Liverpool’s owners have faced issues in their efforts to build a multi-club model.
Fenway Sports Group (FSG), which is spearheaded by John Henry, has been looking to add a club to its portfolio alongside Arne Slot’s side.
Liverpool’s owners completed due diligence on Getafe in September after holding talks with the Spanish club for several months.
However, The Athletic reported on 13 November FSG has ended its interest in buying the La Liga side due to the potential cost of the takeover and Spain’s strict spending restrictions.
Liverpool owners told to keep takeover talks secret
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider he’s “surprised” FSG has so far failed in its attempts to begin a multi-club model following the latest setback.
Liverpool’s owners pulled out of negotiations to buy Bordeaux in July 2024 after the French side were relegated to the fourth tier following their financial issues.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson said: “I’m surprised becaue they seem to have looked quite carefully at a lot of clubs, it’s become public and then they haven’t completed those deals. That seems to have happened two or three times.
“That’s quite surprising. I would have thought they could have kept the due diligence period secret or the negotiation secret. I also think that even without doing any due diligence at all in terms of the confidential stuff, they should have had a pretty good feel for what they were looking at.
“Most people these days can assess from the outside what they’re buying. They’re not necessarily buying it for the current 11 players, they’re buying more of a platform.”
FSG was also believed to be weighing up a bid to purchase Malaga earlier this year, but a deal for the Spanish second-tier club also failed to materialise.
Liverpool owners ‘spoilt for choice’ in takeover pursuit
Borson suggested Liverpool’s owners are “spoilt for choice” due to the amount of clubs that are currently for sale when discussing the Getafe takeover collapse.
He said: “A lot of the assessment that can be made from the outside is what does a club of this size tend to do for gate? What does it tend to do in media revenues? Where has it done historically in commercial? But more importantly, what can we do with it?
“A lot of that stuff is either public or known to the buyer, so it’s hard to understand what keeps going wrong in these deals for them.
“And when I say going wrong, I mean what are they finding when they’re doing the due diligence that’s putting them off actually pushing the button on it? What’s the difference between what they were looking for and what they found? It’s quite hard to understand.
“The other thing is that there are just so many clubs that are available if you want them. There are very few clubs outside of the very big players who are not for sale. When you are spoilt for choice, it makes you quite picky.”
Football Insider revealed on 9 November Liverpool’s owners are expected to continue their pursuit of a new club after failing to agree a deal for Getafe.
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