LONDON: The long-term commitment of Fenway Sports Group to Liverpool is in doubt after the owners launched a search for new investors.

FSG has stated officially that it is open to a minority shareholder buying into the club but it is understood that president John W Henry and his partners would listen to offers of more than £3bn for an overall sale. A statement said: “FSG remains fully committed to the success of Liverpool, both on and off the pitch.” 

Management of the process by heavyweight United States banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley has raised questions about FSG’s freal intentions. This will have no immediate impact on the job security of manager Jurgen Klopp and his staff and current squad. Klopp was notified of the development before it became public knowledge.

In April Klopp signed a contract extension through to 2026 and will spend the World Cup hiatus focused only on ways and means to improve results and performances after a disappointing first three months of the campaign.

Liverpool, who host managerless Southampton on Saturday, are eighth in the Premier League, 15 points behind leaders Arsenal and seven points behind fourth-placed Tottenham, albeit with one game in hand.

Assistant Pep Lijnders, before last night’s League Cup-tie against Derby, said: “Of course you sign a deal with LFC and the owners but we are not naive to think that things do not change in football. That’s how it works. But how did this distract us? This is what I like about our club, that we are so focused. There was a small discussion between Jürgen and me and then we started focusing on the game coming up.”

FSG may consider any offer beyond £3bn as a good deal because it paid ‘only’ £300m in October 2010 to buy a financially-embattled club from warring co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

Interest is expected from the Far East and Middle East for a club with a 100m global fan base but another American owner is the most likely outcome.

One consideration for FSG is an inability to compete with the financial power of state-backed clubs such as Manchester City and Newcastle in England as well as Paris Saint-Germain in Europe.

This was behind FSG’s short-lived involvement with the European Super League project. As Henry once said: “I do not have ‘Sheikh’ in front of my name.”

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