Izuchukwu OkosiFenway Sports Group, the majority owners of Liverpool, have announced that the club is not for sale but has suggested that the hierarchy are in talks with potential investors about another type of transaction at the Merseyside giants.
Liverpool, according to the owners last November, could be sold with potential buyers said to be weighing up investing in the club or Premier League rivals, Manchester United.
However, in a huge twist, the Group on Monday released a statement now insisting that they are not willing to do business with any interested parties looking to buy the club.
“Are we selling LFC? No. Are [we] talking with investors about LFC? Yes,” John Henry, principal owner of Fenway Sports Group, told the Boston Sports Journal in an interview.
“Will something happen there? I believe so, but it won’t be a sale. Have we sold anything in the past 20-plus years?”
The statement put paid to speculation that the team was heading for a sale that could fetch more than $5 billion as investors from around the world vie to buy clubs in the English Premier League.
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Fenway Sports Group bought Liverpool for about £300 million pounds ($361 million) in 2010 in a forced sale by US businessmen George Gillett and Tom Hicks.
Liverpool is one of the biggest teams in global football and, along with northwest rivals Manchester United FC, one of the most successful in the world’s richest football league.
The Manchester club is a major prize itself, drawing bids from the Qatari royal family and Britain’s richest man.
The Reds appeared to have been put for sale by FSG in November after a statement revealed it would “consider new shareholders if it was in the best interests of Liverpool as a club”.
However, principal owner John Henry has now revealed Liverpool are simply searching for investors, adding FSG is not keen to sell up completely.
“I know there has been a lot of conversation and quotes about LFC, but I keep to the facts: we merely formalised an ongoing process,” he explained.
“Will we be in England forever? No. Are we selling LFC? No. Are talking with investors about LFC? Yes. Will something happen there? I believe so, but it won’t be a sale. Have we sold anything in the past 20+ years?”
FSG has delivered Premier League and Champions League success during the latter stages of its tenure, owing to the hiring of manager Jurgen Klopp back in 2015.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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