Matthew Sinton provides the latest on the potential takeover from Chinese superpower, Everbright.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few days, I’m sure you will have heard the news that Chinese company Everbright may be interested in investing in the club.
There were, of course, mixed reactions to the rumours. Some fans may be afraid that we will “buy the league”. Something they have criticised clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester City for for many years. Others have become so desperate for success that it doesn’t bother them how we achieve it.
The potential investors would certainly bring a lot of money; they are said to be worth £602 billion. Just to give you an idea of how much that really is, Manchester City’s owner Sheikh Mansour is worth £17 billion, Roman Abramovich just £8.2 billion. The reported £800 million bid would be peanuts to them. But how much would change if they were to take over?
It seems at the moment that Everbright are not interested in an outright takeover of the club, but rather buying a share. So unless it’s going to be a majority share, will the transfer policy change? And if so, what difference will it make with Klopp in charge? Only a few weeks ago he said this:
‘Other clubs can go out and spend more money and collect top players. I want to do it differently. I would even do it differently if I could spend that money.’
So surely he would not change his style of management if more funds were available. The only way this could change is if he no longer has the final in transfers.
There are other things fans may also be concerned about: the new investors could perhaps damage our reputation as a club, with increased prices of tickets, memberships, merchandise etc. and the club becoming more of a business than a football club. After all, their main concern is to make money. This could mean many fans would not be able to afford to go to games and we may lose that big-game atmosphere we are so famous for. But could it be worth the potential success?