Sport economist Stefan Szymanski has opened up on the potential of a Liverpool takeover bid from the Far East.
The Stephen J. Galetti Professor of Sport Management at the University of Michigan told the Liverpool Echo there is the possibility that a billionaire from East Asia may look to buy the Reds, due to the club’s status in that part of the world.
“Who do you have left? Bahrain, Kuwait, I don’t think Dubai would ever put up for one, so you are running out of those kind of buyers,” Szymanski said.
“The other option is someone in the Far East. Liverpool is such a big name in East Asia and there are billionaire Indonesians, Malaysians and Singaporeans, it would certainly sell well in that part of the world.
“It would be reasonable to think there would be a lot of interest.”
Potential bid from the Far East
In the same way as all of the other parties touted with a potential takeover, the Merseyside fanbase won’t get behind prospective owners if they are linked to a state.
The likes of Public Investment Fund, of Newcastle United, would likely be rather unwelcome at Anfield, due to the various connotations that come with state-backed owners.
However, the issue here is that these are the types of owners in charge of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.
Financially, Liverpool are unable to compete. Their budgets are blown out of the water and their resources behind the scenes are far superior to those at Kirkby.
As a result, the ideal scenario would involve a private consortium – like Fenway Sports Group at the minute.
An amalgamation of parties would bring the funds needed to build a squad required of competing with the best of the best.
Investment into the squad is desperately needed at Anfield, so hopefully a takeover can be completed ahead of the summer transfer window.
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