FSG have been given a real 'kick in the teeth' in their attempts to sell Liverpool

FSG’s prospects of selling Liverpool were given a ‘kick in the teeth’ by Manchester United’s decision to put themselves up for sale.

That’s according to journalist Matt Slater. Speaking to The Athletic Football Podcast today, Slater outlined several reasons why FSG have struggled to generate much tangible interest in Liverpool.

“For whatever reason it hasn’t worked out. I think because of that high valuation for Chelsea, the fact that the economy, we’re one year further on and it’s not looking great, the fact that Liverpool have some challenges around re-tooling,” the journalist explained.

“I think some American sports investors who have the ability to pay that big price are thinking ‘super league appears to be off the table for a while, project restart [Project Big Picture] which was Fenway Sports Group’s thing didn’t go anywhere.’ So, I think there’s a few factors here that have created this… the timing’s wrong.

“And then the last factor of the timing being wrong, what did Man United do a few weeks later? They massively stole the thunder and the light and sucked the air out of the room. Man United going on the market a few weeks later was just a kick in the teeth.

“So that’s where this whole process is. That’s not to say people don’t like Liverpool. It’s not to say people aren’t interested, it’s not to say the bankers involved are not taking calls and I’m sure there’d be umpteen people who’d take a minority stake at the right price. But there hasn’t been someone come along and says ‘yes, here’s four billion, three-and-a-half billion, five billion, whatever you think it is you need, we’re having it.'”

Liverpool going to have to be patient

You can just imagine the scene inside FSG’s boardroom when the news that the Glazers had put United up for sale in November. Just weeks after they’d filtered similar news out of Anfield, John Henry and co must have been livid.

Well, maybe not, actually. Despite the club’s rivalry on the pitch, FSG and the Glazers appear to have a very cordial relationship. It was Liverpool and United who tried to orchestrate the infamous ‘Project Big Picture’ in 2020 after all.

Given their close ties, you’d have to assume that FSG were aware of the plans of their countrymen down the East Lancs Road.

As a result, they may have already expected a little bit of a challenge in selling the club. United are, unfortunately, still a slightly bigger fish in terms of mass-market appeal. Their appeal may have just taken the sheen off Liverpool a little.

FSG won’t panic, though. If they thought this was the right time for them to start plotting their exit strategy, you can bet it will have been thought through in the most thorough way possible. It seems likely that they’ll have been aware of the Glazers intentions and how it could affect interest in their own asset.

So, it may have been a little kick in the teeth to their own ambitions, but they were never going to rush anything anyway. That isn’t the FSG way. By the sounds of what Slater says, they, and everyone connected to the club they control are going to have to be patient.

Keep up to date with all the latest Liverpool news and opinion by following Rousing The Kop’s official Facebook page